


Love You Madly

by QuimbyCub



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F, Female Relationships, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2013-11-01
Packaged: 2017-12-31 03:31:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 26,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1026744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuimbyCub/pseuds/QuimbyCub
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Myka has to take Helena back from Yellowstone to receive her punishment from the regents. (Transferred from FanFiction.net)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Forgive

**Author's Note:**

> Transferred from FanFiction.net, cause it sucks.

Myka couldn't help how she felt. It was obvious that she was to blame for the near catastrophe at Yellowstone. If she had kept her feelings in check and seen the truth in Helena, as Artie had been able to do, none of this would have happened. Helena wouldn't have gotten into Warehouse 2, she wouldn't have gotten her hands on the trident, and Myka wouldn't be sitting here with a broken heart.

She glanced over to her passenger seat, or rather its occupant, and sighed quietly. Myka had been entrusted with the task of transporting HG Wells back to Warehouse 13 to receive her punishment (while Artie was choppered to a nearby hospital). She was focusing on driving, and on remaining professional. Helena sat fiddling with the handcuffs in her lap.

"Those," Myka said, trying to sound cold and distant. "Belonged to Erik Weisz; even you can't get out of them."

"Harry Houdini's handcuffs? I'm honored." Helena tried to joke, then in a softer voice than Myka had ever heard her use, "I _am_  sorry,"

Myka shook her head. "I'm not going to listen to anything you have to say." Again, she kept her tone even and cool, not making eye contact with her prisoner.

"I understand." Helena whispered, regret heavy in her voice.

Myka could tell how the ex-agent felt, but, still, the words snapped something inside her. "Really? You 'understand'?" Her anger was apparent as Myka's voice rose. "What do you understand, exactly? Why you tried to kill everyone? How much you hurt everyone by betraying them? How you jeopardized my career?" Myka's voice lowered. "Do you understand how much you hurt me? Because I really don't think anyone as selfish as you could ever understand the ramifications of her actions."

The angry words hung in the air. Helena forced a painful smile. "I hope you can forgive yourself, at least. This really had nothing to do with you."

"Then why does it feel like this was incredibly personal?" Myka sighed. "Why does it feel like I could have prevented it?"

"Excuse me?" HG scoffed. "Which narrowly averted apocalypse did you just attend? From where I stood—"

"But if I hadn't recommended to the regents that you be reinstated, you never would have had the chance to almost do what you almost did." Myka blurted out. "And," she straightened her shoulders and sat up in her seat. "I don't blame myself."

Helena gave her a pointed look. "See? That sounds like an awfully lot of self-loathing and guilt."

"Well, I guess you would know a lot about that, wouldn't you?" The rage was back in Myka's voice. "You did try to wipe out the entire human race by erupting a super-volcano beneath your feet."

Helena wished to alleviate Myka's guilt. Even she could see that her partner's anger was masking disappointment and hurt. "That is true, but I really was trying to—It sounds rash now. However, I had this plan before I was even bronzed. I suppose that's why I hid part of the Minoan Trident, as a back-up if the world hadn't changed for the better by the released."

"Is that intended to make me feel better?" Myka asked harshly. "'I wasn't trying to kill  _you_ , I had planned to commit genocide a hundred years ago.' Do you really think that makes what you did okay?"

"Of course I don't!" Helena responded, upset. "What I wanted to do, well, I had over a hundred years to talk myself into believing it was the right thing to do."

Myka mumbled under her breath. "That's not what I was talking about."

"Well, my dear, what  _are_  you referring to?" Helena was watching Myka, waiting for her reply.

"I was…" Myka trailed off. "I'm talking about us."

"Oh."

Myka looked back to the older woman. "I guess it doesn't matter now." Tears were filling Myka's emerald eyes. "Do you have any idea what the regents will do to you?"

"Yes, I'm afraid I do. And I'm sorry, but I can't let that happen." Suddenly HG surged across the car and grabbed the gun off Myka's hip.

The car swerved dangerously as Myka pulled onto the shoulder of the two-lane road. "What the hell?" She shouted. "I thought you already decided you couldn't kill me."

Helena turned the weapon awkwardly in her restrained hands. "This isn't meant for you, darling." She smiled weakly and, in one smooth motion, placed the barrel between her lips and pulled the trigger.


	2. Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Myka has to take Helena back from Yellowstone to receive her punishment from the regents.

_Helena turned the weapon awkwardly in her restrained hands. "This isn't meant for you, darling." She smiled weakly and, in one smooth motion, placed the barrel between her lips and pulled the trigger._

The gun clicked dryly. Helena quickly tried again with the same results before lowering the gun to her lap. "I never did get the hang of using these blasted things. Don't really care for them. But I'm certain that is not what is supposed to happen."

Myka took the handgun out of her friend's loose grip and opened the cylinder, revealing it as empty. "I left the bullets back in Yellowstone."

"How did you know I—" Helena asked quizzically.

Myka looked sadly at the gun in her lap. "I didn't." Her voice released. "I just wasn't certain I could resist doing the same to myself. I never liked guns either." She looked up at Helena. "You should have killed me in Egypt, it would have been kinder."

"Myka, don't say that." Her words were soft. "I could never harm you." Her admission was as much to herself as to her companion. "I know that now."

"Trust me. You've caused me more than enough pain."

HG turned sideways to face the other woman. "For that, I am dreadfully and deeply sorry." She really was. "I thought I had moved past my, my plan." She was ashamed of herself. "It just seemed that when I got to Warehouse 2, when everything came together, some part of me had to go through with it." She knew she would never get Myka to understand her motives, especially since she herself could no longer make sense of her rationale. Still, even if Myka would never truly believe that Helena had the greater good at heart, she had to say something. "I do lo—"

"No." Myka shook her head to silence the raven-haired woman. "You don't get to say that. Not now, not ever." Tears were flowing freely down Myka's cheeks now. "If you really felt that way you never would have taken advantage of me, or made me feel this way. Why wasn't this life suitable for you?"

"It wasn't enough for me!" Helena cried out. "I thought coming back to the Warehouse would be the answer, but I'd lost so much."

"Couldn't I have been enough for you?" Myka sobbed. "We could have had so much together."

"Oh, Myka, dear." Helena reached for Myka's cheek, but was reminded rudely of the manacles. She settled for stroking Myka's knee instead. "I cannot express how much you mean to me, but what kind of life could we have in this world? There is so much hate in this close-minded world for those like you and me. More than I ever could have imagined would exist in a progressive America." She sighed heavily. "I meant what I said before, Myka. This world is no place for a child. In so many ways you are as innocent as a child; still so new to the vast power and evil in this world and so unwilling to believe in people's true nature.

"We have devoted out lives to stopping the evils people create," Helena was crying too now. "And you still want to see the best in people. You still have faith that they deserve another chance."

"There are good artifacts, too. So many people have done such noble work in this world." Myka corrected. "And I know more about this world than you ever will. Maybe you're the one that is close-minded and full of hatred. Maybe you should have stayed bronze."

Helena was saddened by Myka's harsh words. "Do you truly feel that way, darling? Do you really wish we'd never met? Did I not bring some joy to your life? You changed my life, made this world bearable. I'm sorry if I did not do the same for you." She paused, remembering a line from her favorite Dickens novel. "'I loved you madly; in the distasteful work of the day—'"

Myka cut in, "'In the wakeful misery of the night, girded by sordid realities, or—'"

"'Or wandering through Paradises and Hells of visions into which I rushed,'" Helena continued.

They completed the quote together: "'Carrying your image in my arms,'" Myka paused, hesitant, but continued nonetheless, "'I loved you madly.'" They had said these words before, it was one of Helena's favorite quotes.

"I did, my dear," HG weighted her words carefully. "I. Loved. You. Madly." She hoped Myka would reply, but no reply came. She tried again. "'If I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more.' But you were so kind to me and I so enjoyed our time together that it sickens me to think that I have pained or troubled you so."

Myka smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Dickens and Austen, you really are pulling out the stops." She laughed bitterly. "Are you going to try French next?"

"Il est mieux d'avoir aimé et perdu—"

"I was kidding!" Myka laughed with her heart this time. "I, I have something I'd like to share with you, as well, not a classic. It is very much applicable today." She said, tears threating to return. "'This is not a goodbye, my darling, this is a thank you.'" Myka reached into her bag and pulled out a small vial of purple goo as she spoke. "'Thank you for all the memories I will cherish forever.'" Myka reached for HG's wrists and dripped a few drops of goo on the locks of the cuffs.

"Myka! What are you..?" Helena tried to pull away, but Myka held fast to her hands. "I can't—"

"'But most of all,'" Myka ignored the older woman's protests. "'Thank you for showing me that there will come a time when I can eventually'" the locks clicked open and Myka pulled Helena's wrists free. "'Let you go.'" Myka rubbed her friend's wrists gently. "I don't know how much I believe that last bit… But I know I can't watch you die. I can't take you back."

Helena wanted, for a moment, to run. But the feeling was fleeting. "Darling, I can't let you do this, whatever fate awaits me at the Warehouse, I deserve entirely." She reached to resecure herself into the handcuffs.

"No, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I am responsible for your death. Just as I will have trouble knowing that I was almost responsible for what almost happened back there." Helena started to objection. "Don't." Myka snapped. "If I hadn't fallen for you like I did… If I had controlled myself, none of this would have happened."

"Love is not something you control, dear, you know that. And you should never regret love." Helena stroked Myka's cheek with her now free hands. "I will never be able to apologize enough to you. What I did was horrible, but never doubt that I loved you, madly and with all my heart. Had we met in another time, a better time, we would not be ending as we are."

Myka leaned in to kiss Helena, knowing every word she spoke to be true. They kissed slowly, with a bitter-sweetness to what they knew to be their last kiss. Myka's hands began to wander down Helena's neck. It didn't matter what HG had done anymore. It didn't matter that she had been deceitful and impulsive. All that mattered was that they were together, here and now. Myka wished this moment would last forever, so they would never lose each other.

Helena pulled away first, both women were unwilling to continue their journey. Finally, Helena said what needed to be said. "We should probably get back to the Warehouse, there should be quite a reception waiting for us."

Myka dug into her bag again and pulled out a thick, plain envelope holding it out for Helena to take. "It's two thousand dollars in cash. This should get you a plane ticket to get out of this place. There's a town half a mile down the road, you can walk there. I'll get as far as I can before I call it in." Myka shoved the money into HG's lap. "Please take it and go."

"Myka, I can't. I'll never make it. Even if I could, I won't jeopardizes your career again."

"Please, for me, just go!" Myka pleaded. "Take it, dammit! I can't do this." Her voice rose quickly.

Helena sat back in her seat and tried to give the envelope back to Myka, shaking her head. Neither can I!" She cried, both women visibly distraught now. "I want to, but I could never stay away from you. I would just end up doing something foolish." She dropped the money into Myka's lap. "You have to take me back."

Myka's eyes were set stubbornly. "Fine," Helena exhaled. "If you don't take me back, I will turn myself in. At least this way you get to keep your job."

Myka sat, not moving for a minute, not saying anything. Finally, she put the car back in gear and pulled back into traffic. "No matter what you say, I am sorry I couldn't have made more of a difference. I'm sorry I hadn't been able to predict your plan. I should-"

Helena placed her hand gently on Myka's shoulder. "I won't let you keep thinking like that. If you want to hate me, fine. I deserve that! But don't hate yourself, don't hate the Warehouse."

"Maybe it's best if we don't talk anymore." Myka sighed. "I feel like no good can come of this."

Helena nodded and swallowed. "I know what you mean, would it be easier if I sit in the back?"

"Not really, I don't want to be alone, I just don't think I can keep talking to you when every breath breaks my heart." Myka laid her right arm on the rest and steered with her left hand at 12 o'clock.

They drove in silence for several minutes, with no grandeur Helena reached across and slipped her hand in Myka's. Myka didn't acknowledge it but squeezed her hand gently. Myka knew she would miss this, the quiet moments when they just fit together. No words, just honesty. Helena was not proud of what she did. But if all she had to show for her second life was the time she spent with Myka; that was enough.


	3. Hope (Part: One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place at the beginning of season three.

When Mrs. Fredric brought HG to see Myka at the bookstore, Myka was certain she needed to return to the Warehouse. Not for herself, and not because Helena wanted her to. Rather she had to return because the Warehouse was not what she thought. She had been certain that HG had been killed; in fact, she accepted the fact that they would never see each other again. But there they were. Of course, Helena was not  _really_  there, but Myka could speak to her and see her, and that gave her hope. She had a small part of her, in the far most corner of her mind, which hoped she could bring HG back. Myka knew what that kind of thinking could lead to, she had seen it firsthand. Still, Myka hoped to see her love again one day.

She was also pleased, well not pleased, but pleasantly surprised that Mrs. Fredric would reveal HG's status to her. Especially, since Myka was certain the mysterious, and at times creepy, woman knew the true nature of Helena's and hers relationship.

So, Myka returned to South Dakota, because she had hope.  _All that remained in the box was Hope._ She thought, her mind still turning over Helena's words to her: Don't walk away from your truth. Myka's truth was that she had been hurt very badly by the woman she loved, and, like the creatures that stung Pandora, all that could heal her wounds was Hope. It was that hope that swelled when she found the black orb sitting on her bed at Leena's.

At first, Myka did not recognize it. But then she remembered how Mrs. Fredric had captured HG's consciousness and taken her away. Why would she have given Myka this gift? There was no note, nothing to let her know if she was even meant to have it. She should have gone to Artie with it. She should have returned it to the Warehouse. There were many things she should have done, but instead she decided, this once, to open it. Like Pandora, Myka's curiosity was too much.

So she shut the door to her bedroom and sat on her bed with her bad against the headboard, turning the object over and over in her hands. Finally she decided to twist the two halves and see what would happen. It worked. There was a blaze of light, and then Helena stood there in front oh her, in her room.

"Hello," she smiled. "It's nice to see you, Myka."

Myka wanted to hug her, but she resisted the urge since she knew it was impossible. "Hi, it's good to see you, too." They stared at each other for a few moments, just enjoying the sight of one another. Myka realized she was being rude. "Would like to sit?" She gestured to the foot of her bed. "Can you sit?"

Helena cocked her head and approached the bed slowly. She reached to run her hand over the bedspread. She thought hard about how to achieve this, but no idea came. Eventually, she hopped up and tried to land on the bed. To her surprise, she landed. Well, not landed, per say, more hovered, but it gave the impression of sitting, and she folded her legs up and smiled triumphantly. "Yes, apparently I can."

"What's it like?" Myka asked, this was not why she allowed Helena out of the ball, but she was concerned as to her friend's accommodations.

"Quiet." Helena replied, and then tried to think of the right words. "It's not quite like being bronzed, I can still move, wherever I am and in this state. But it's as lonely as bronzing was, and a bit more hopeless."

"Can you feel anything?" Myka asked, leaning forward to touch Helena's cheek.

The older woman pulled away involuntary. "Sorry, I don't feel it, really, but it's cold… And it's just unpleasant."

"Oh, that's… I'm sorry too." She chewed her lip. "Can you… feel yourself?"

"Where I'm being held, I can. But…" Helena lifted her hand and tried to pat her arm. She pixilated as her hand went through. "I guess not." She sighed sadly.

Myka sighed as well. "What about if you try to touch me?"

"I really doubt—"

"Just try." Myka begged. "Try for me."

The raven-haired woman raised her hand hesitantly. "I'm sorry." She tried to stroke Myka's face, but again the ripple ran up her arm. She shrugged her shoulders. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I, I'm not sure. When I got home," the young agent explained. "This," she held HG's sphere up. "Was lying on my bed. I don't know why, but I think I'm supposed to talk to you."

"Well," Helena perked up a little. "What would you like to talk about?"

Myka shrugged, "I was worried about you, after the regents took you. I thought for sure you'd be dead."

"I'm not sure this is much better."

"But, we can see each other, we can talk." Myka's voice had a slight whine to it. "I would think that that helps with your punishment."

"It does, darling. Knowing I can see you, keeps me going." She smiled, apologetically. "But I really have no choice but to go on; I'm not eating, I don't need to sleep, and I really have  _nothing_  to do." Now  _she_  was complaining. "They could have at least left me a book or some Sudoku puzzles."

Myka laughed. "I think that's kind of the point; you're supposed to be considering your crimes," She smiled, jokingly. "Showing remorse and whatnot."

"I would imagine this sort of punishment leads to a mental epiphany," Helena's voice was lightening. "Or insanity… So, yes, terribly effective rehabilitation."

Myka laughed at HG's ability to stay positive. "I've been told not to question the regents. You could probably help on cases and stuff. If you could make them trust you and believe you are no longer a threat…"

"Do you really think so?" There was a glimmer in her eyes. "That would be lovely."

Myka beamed subtly, happy to see some of the old Helena shining through. "I wish you were really here." She didn't know where that came from.

"I do too, dear."

"Maybe, one day, you'll be able to comeback for real." Myka said longingly. "Do you think..?"

HG shook her head slowly. "I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"But that's all we have; hope."

Helena didn't want to talk about the possibilities of a better future; she had learned what came of false hope. "So, what's been going on at the Warehouse?"

Myka sat back against the headboard, and grinned. "Well, while I was gone…"


	4. Hope (Part: Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Myka and Helena continue to speak in secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, sorry.

The two women talked long into the night about work, literature, and each other. They laughed and cried and finally, a little before 2 am, Myka yawned and laid back on her pillow. She patted the bed next to her and smiled welcomingly.

HG looked sorrowfully at the space beside her love. "Myka, I won't be able—"

"Try to pretend." Myka interjected. "Just lay here next to me and pretend." Helena thought hard about what she was doing and eventually laid her head on the pillow opposite Myka. "See?" the younger woman asked. "Now, look at me."

"Yes?" HG asked, turning to face Myka.

Myka breathed slowly. "Pretend you can feel my warmth and that it gives you solace."

Helena closed her eyes and remembered how it had felt before, when she could feel, to have Myka lay with her. The corners of her mouth turned up a bit as a contented look graced her delicate features.

"Good." Myka smiled too. "Now watch me." She lifted a hand to Helena's face and stroked gently. "Pretend you feel my touch on your skin, pretend my hands still comfort you."

It was sad, to have to do this. To have to imagine each other's touch. Still, they continued. "Myka?" Helena asked, seeming to get the hang of it. She rolled onto her side and reached for Myka's cheek. "Imagine this for me, please." Slowly she leaned in to Myka's face and held her lips against the other woman's.

Myka leaned forward too and Helena gasped as they…overlapped. Myka moaned at the absence of her friend. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"Myka began.

"It's okay, I can almost feel you." She wanted to try again, but she needed more time to figure out what she was and how that worked.

"I want you to stay with me." Myka stated. "But I think you need to..." She picked the black ball off her nightstand. "I think you should go back."

"Yes." Helena agreed. "I'm afraid this has been quite tiring for me as well. Perhaps I'll even sleep tonight."

Myka brought her hands around the orb and started to twist it.

"Before I go," Helena caused her to pause. "I want to thank you, for talking to me. Will we do this again?"

Myka nodded. "I will never let you go. Remember? I carry your image, always."

"Right," HG got up and stood before Myka's bed. "So, shall we?"

"I guess so." Myka was hesitant. "Will it hurt?"

"Only for a moment." Helena assured her. "Darling? Do remember, in case I disappear somehow or the orb vanishes as it came: I loved you madly."

"Is this the sordid reality he spoke of?" Myka asked.

"Perhaps it is, but even in the wakeful misery of night," Helena closed her eyes and prepared for the transition back to her cell.

"I love you madly." They said together.

Myka quickly turned the orb back, before she could second guess herself, and watched as her love dematerialized. Myka knew now that Helena was sorry for what she did, that she would someday be able to be forgiven by the regents. Most of all she knew that now there was hope that Helena could return to her. And that's all that she needed to get through the night: The hope that she could get Helena back and be with her again. She had even given Helena some hope that she could be helpful, even in her current, non-caporal form. Maybe that's all they needed to stay sane.

In spite of everything, with all the pains and despair, came hope.


	5. Ideas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chap again.

Helena and Myka talked almost every night, although time moved differently for Helena. What felt like minutes to her was hours, and at times it seemed as if Myka had abandoned her entirely. It didn't seem fair to either of them. If they had to suffer like this, they should at least suffer at the same rate. They persevered, sometimes they had nothing to talk about, and they just sat together. Myka had taken to laying books open for Helena and turning the page so she could read. Sometimes Myka would read off crossword clues and they would spend time like that. It was only hard when Myka had to work late or was sent out of town. Even then she had taken to bringing Helena's cage with her everywhere with her.

Myka ran home and activated the orb. "You will not believe the day I had!" Myka flopped on to the bed and tossed the ball aside.

"Do be careful with that, won't you?" Helena reminded her. "Only one I have."

"Right, sorry." Myka picked it up and set it carefully on her dresser. "It's just, last night, the reason I couldn't talk was that Pete and I got whammied and were acting drunk and we bronzed Steve! He's okay though. But then we had the brilliant idea to get into bed together so we'd remember something was off." Myka babbled.

Helena tried not to look upset. "In bed? You slept together?"

"No! No, no, of course not. We just slept...together." Myka tried to explain herself. "So, yes, I guess technically we did, but not the way you think."

"I didn't assume anything, darling." Helena smiled, relived that nothing had happened between the two agents. She perched on the edge of the bed. "It's not as if I have any claim to you."

"But you do," Myka corrected. "I mean, you're not seeing anyone else, right?"

"Yes, but I don't have a choice." Helena stated. "I cannot do anything to please you, dear, you really should move on."

"Do you want me to?" Myka asked, sounding hurt. "Just talking pleases me plenty."

"I want you to be happy." Helena assured her. "I don't want you to stay hung-up on me forever."

"'Hung-up?'" Myka questioned. "What happened to all that 'loved you madly' stuff?"

"Oh Myka, I do. I just want to know that you're ha—"

"Happy, right." Myka scoffed a little. "I was happy, with you."

Helena sighed sadly. "As I've said, I will never be able to apologize enough for betraying your trust."

"You can try though." Myka softened. She sat up slowly. "I was hoping we could try something."

"You sound hesitant." HG replied, a little worried.

"Yes," Myka pulled her Tesla out and set it between them on the bed. "I want to shoot you."

"Why?" Helena asked, certain her friend had gone completely mad. "Is this some sort of therapy technique?"

"Not really." Myka laughed. "Although…" She got back on track. "I want to see if there is some way to…solidify you."

Helena stared at Myka. "To what end?"

Myka shrugged. "I want to touch you."

"Myka," Helena sighed. "I don't want to discourage you, but I'm worried you could damage the apparatus."

"I know, me too" Myka admitted. "But I want to try."

"Okay," HG nodded. "If you really want to you can. Just promise that if it doesn't work, you will try to get me back, even if it's just like this."

Myka nodded and swallowed, raising her weapon and aiming at Helena's image. Both women closed their eyes as Myka pulled the trigger. The light bounced around the room and caused a power surge, but it went straight through Helena. Myka blinked widely. "Nothing?"

Helena shook her head. "Afraid not." Helena stood up awkwardly. "Any other ideas?"

"If I knew what kind of artifact they were using to contain you…" Myka stood to pace the room. Then she got a dangerous glint in her eye.

"Myka?" HG asked, more concerned now than before. "What are you thin—"

Helena was cut off by Myka firing the Tesla at the black orb. Helena's image sparked slightly and she fell to the ground.

"HG!" Myka cried, running to her partner and grabbing her shoulders as she shook the woman. "Are you okay?"


	6. Feelings

" _HG!" Myka cried, running to her partner. She grabbed her shoulders and shook the woman. "Are you okay?"_

"Bloody hell," Helena rubbed her head. "We are never…" Helena trailed off as she felt Myka's hands on her. "I can feel you."

"You can? You can!" Myka ran her hands up and down Helena's arms. She leaned into kiss her love, as she had wanted to do for so long now. Alas, just as their lips were about to touch, Helena shivered. Myka felt her disappear from her hands. "I guess it doesn't last."

"No, but that was amazing. I hadn't felt anything. Even pain," Helena cringed. "Very severe pain, mind you, is a step forward."

"I don't want to hurt you again, though. Even if it would mean we could…" Myka wasn't sure what her goal was exactly.

"But it is a promising development. It means we could figure out another way." Helena straightened back up and stood, Myka followed suit. "Have you done any more research on what they might be using?"

"I may have found something. Do you know if your body is somewhere…else?" Myka suggested.

Helena didn't know. "It's possible. They didn't really tell me what they were doing. Or perhaps they did. I can't remember much."

Myka frowned. "I could check the Warehouse database again—"

"No. You've put yourself at enough of a risk as it is. I don't want anyone to catch you." Helena sighed. "Do you want to do something else?"

"Sure, I've got the crossword, if you want?" Myka offered.

Helena smirked. "We could, or you could strip for me."

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Myka teased.

Helena lay back on Myka's bed. "Very much so, yes."

Myka blinked slowly and started to unbutton her shirt. Her hands began their work carefully. But she faltered halfway down. "I can't." She shook her head. "I just, I'd need to feel you."

"I know what you mean." Helena agreed. "I don't mean to leave on a sour note, but you should probably rest. Can you put me back?"

"I'd rather not. Can't you spend the night?" She begged. "This once?".

Helena curled onto her side a little. "This once. Remember we don't know what the effects of staying out for a long period of time might be."

Myka smiled and walked to her dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas. She smiled. "I guess you get a strip show anyway."

"I can close my eyes." Helena bargained.

Myka shook her head. "That feels silly. You can…watch, if you want."

"Oh, goody." The older woman joking and rubbing her hands together gleefully.

Myka turned her back and dropped her shirt to the floor and reached behind herself to unclasp her bra. "I'm not going to be artful or anything."

"You have beautiful skin." Helena crooned, ignoring Myka's protests.

"Thank you." Myka blushed. She continued to undress until she was entirely naked. "I'm nervous." She glanced over her shoulder.

Myka really was a beautiful woman. Her skin was pale and unmarred, stretched tightly over well-toned muscle. Her straight hair hung down her back, hiding her shoulder blades. Helena inhaled slowly, admiring the way Myka's legs slim legs met her perky bottom.

"Hmm," Helena laughed. "How about this? I will close my eyes and not open them until you say to do so. If you choose to be dressed when that happens, I support that."

Myka looked back at her love again. She adored that Helena wasn't forcing her, even now. Still, as much as she wanted not to, she pulled on a t-shirt and shorts and crawled up her bed until she was beside Helena. "Okay."

HG opened her eyes slowly and looked Myka up and down. "So be it." She smiled, only a little disappointed.

"Thank you for staying here."

They lay, side-by-side, not touching. Helena didn't close her eyes until Myka had dozed off. For the first time in a long while, both women slept deeply. So deeply, in fact, that they didn't hear Claudia knock on the door. They didn't hear the door open, either. And they didn't hear Claudia creep towards HG's side of the bed. It was not until Claudia reached out to touch her that Helena woke up.

"Darling?" She asked sleepily. Then it occurred to Helena that not only had Claudia never seen her with Myka like this. The fact was, she was not supposed to be here at all. "Claudia!" HG gasped. "I can explain."

"You're a hologram?" Claudia asked, trying to touch the woman again. "Cool."

"It's not that cool, not really."

"Well, sure, not for you. But in general," the young woman raised her eyebrows. "Do you know how you're doing it?" She drew her hand through the image again.

"No, the regents arranged it. Could you please stop that?" She snapped a little. "Sorry, it doesn't feel good."

Claudia withdrew her hand. "And you and Myka? Are you?" Claudia questioned.

"We were, kind of." HG glanced around. "Listen, no one really knows about this, especially not that I'm here. Could you..?"

"Mum's the word." The red-head chirped. "I'll leave you guys alone." She walked back to the door but not before turning around again and smiling. "So cool." There was an air of awe in her voice.

As soon as Claudia left, Helena whispered in Myka's ear, "Myka, darling? Wake up."

Myka rolled over and saw her love again. Her eyes lit up for a moment, and then she realized, just like Helena had. This wasn't real.

"It's time for me to go back."

Again the women wished each other farewell and felt lonely as soon as they we apart. Myka got changed and ready for work. Meanwhile, Helena returned to her usual routine of sleep and deep thought. Whereas Myka felt lonely, Helena was truly alone. It wasn't always bad, but this time was to be one of the worst. Although Myka only left Helena for a few days, it seemed like weeks had passed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sexy yet, sorry.


	7. Abandoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Myka make plans for HG to come back to the team!

Helena had been pacing about her limbo prison for over six weeks. She had invented multiple reasons for Myka's absence. The first being that Myka had returned her to the regents as she no longer wished to speak with HG after she had 'gotten fresh' with her. She should have known better than to ask Myka for something like that. They had never gone far when HG was alive, where did Helena get off asking Myka to strip now?

'Alive' may not be the truest word to describe her pre-imprisonment/post-bronze life, but 'dead' seemed an accurate description of her life now. She was a ghost. Helena's other scenarios to explain Myka's prolonged abandonment of her included: Death, bronzing, and insanity sll at the top of the list. If Helena was to be completely honest with herself, she preferred those justifications to the far more likely 'Myka was ignoring her and hated her for all she had done' possibility.

On day forty-five since Helena had last spoken to Myka, she was entirely wrought with anxiety. She wished she had some way to contact the regents or the Warehouse so she could ask if Myka was okay (although that seemed a little desperate). HG was attempting to walk the perimeter of her room to kill time (the space seemed suffocating and infinite at the same time), with great concentration when she went to run her fingers through her hair and she felt nothing. She looked up and found herself in an unfamiliar room. Her eyes scanned about urgently until she met Myka's gaze. Her friend sat crossed-legged on the bed.

"Myka!" Helena gasped, jumping onto the bed. (She really had gotten better at controlling her motion.) "Oh, thank God. I was so worried that I had upset you or that something had happened to you. Did I upset you? I mean, has something happened?" HG finally took a breath; she was so relieved to see the woman she cared so much for. "I missed you terribly."

Myka cocked her head slightly. "I was only gone a few days," she said. "I had to go to Dubai to collect an artifact, and then it got into Pete's ex-wife's bag so we went to the Poconos I forgot to pack you. But it was only a few days, a week at the most."

"A week? Wait, Pete has an ex-wife?" Helena added. "That makes so much sense." She looked back at Myka, "It felt like so much longer."

Myka realized what had happened; their times were off again. "How long was it for you?" She asked concerned.

"Oh," Helena avoided Myka's stare. "A few weeks, I guess." She tried not to sound desperate while finding the flowery bedspread completely fascinating. "Forty-five days perhaps."

"HG, I'm so sorry!" Myka felt so badly that her friend thought she had been discarded. Forty-five days? Myka would never do such a thing.

As Myka was feeling horribly about the situation, Helena spied the Tesla sticking out of Myka's bag. She gestured to the gun. "Do you think you could…I really missed you."

Myka picked up the weapon, she wished to feel Helena's touch as well, but knew how much it had hurt the last time they tried it. "Are you sure? It will probably be painful."

The older woman nodded. "I can handle it."

"Okay," Myka sighed and zapped the orb.

HG flew forward as soon as she felt the pain kick in and wrapped her arms around Myka. She squeezed her tightly and quickly moved to kiss her lips before she faded back into a hologram. It wasn't much, or even anywhere near enough, but it brought comfort to both of them. They barely brushed lips when Helena felt the familiar chill.

"I'm so sorry," Myka said. "Oh, we don't have much time." Myka said realizing they were dawdling. She stood and walked to her overnight bag. "We're in Pittsburgh, by the way. There's an artifact that is vaporizing things and people." Myka started to undress without thinking. "It makes a noise, like a trumpet, and I remembered something in your files about a horn or something." Her top half was completely naked before she heard Helena cleared her throat.

Myka turned to look at HG before realizing what she was doing. "Shit." She quickly grabbed her clean clothes. "I'm sorry, I was trying to save time and I guess I forgot or something. Not that I would forget you, just that I'm so comfortable with you and we've shared hotel rooms before and—" Myka was babbling.

"It's fine, darling, I wasn't objecting. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doing." She smiled sweetly. "So, what do you want to know about the horn?"

"Well, actually, I talked to Mrs. Fredric, since she's the only one who knows your whereabouts…"

"About that," Helena smirked, a little ashamed of herself. "Claudia walked in on us the other morning while you were asleep."

Myka's eyes widened. "She what now?"

"Anyway," Helena changed the subject. "The horn?"

"Right. This conversation? Not over." Myka interrupted herself. "I asked Mrs. Fredric if you could come in as a resource, to help on the case. She said she'd ask the regents."

Helena's face lit up. "She did?"

"Yes, so it's probably best if you don't tell me many details about your run-in with artifact so I can seem more surprised." She explained. "As I'm sure you can guess, we really can't let anyone know what we've been doing. Did Claudia seem like she was going to tell anyone?" Myka asked, suddenly worried.

"No, I believe her exact phrasing was 'the word is mum' or something." HG smiled. "You'll want to remind her about acting surprised at me, too."

"Of course," Myka agreed, pulling her boots back on now that she had dressed herself in fresh clothes. "I'm really looking forward to working with you again."

"As am I." HG concurred.

Myka sighed and picked up Helena's sphere. "I've got a plane to catch, I'm afraid." She frowned. "I promise I will never leave you. If it means Claudia overnights you to Hong Kong, I'll do it."

"Thank you." HG nodded, implying she was ready. "I love you, darling."

"I love you, too...Madly." And with that Myka twisted the two halves of the globe and watched Helena disappear. She finished preparing to return to South Dakota and tucked the ball back into her purse. "I will never leave you." She promised.


	8. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helena joins the team during 3...2...1 while not letting on that she and Myka have had a continuing relationship.

"They said 'yes!'" Myka squealed activating the sphere as soon as she got to the privacy of her room, not even waiting for the door to finish closing.

"They did?" Helena rocked up on the balls of her feet. "That's…Amazing."

Myka smiled. "I know! So, I'll take you to the Warehouse and you can explain everything about the artifact there."

Helena was about to reply when there was a knock on the door. "Hide!" Myka whispered feeling very much like a teenager caught with a boy in here room.

"Deactivate me!" HG hissed back.

Myka dove for the ball. "Right, of course." Quickly she turned it back and HG evaporated.

She opened the door, trying to act cool. "Mrs. Fredric?" Myka asked, she had expected it to be Claudia or Leena.

"Good afternoon, Agent Berring." She was ignoring the younger woman's flustered appearance. "May I come in?" She asked, although it was more a command. Myka stood aside. "Thank you. May I speak with Ms. Wells?" Again, technically a question, but definitely not sounding like one.

"Of course, come in." She said even though Mrs. Fredric was already in the room. "Let me just get her, I mean it, the orb."

Mrs. Fredric smiled, slightly amused. "I trust the arrangement has been mutually beneficial for you two."

"Yes." Myka assured her, handing over the orb. "I wanted to thank you for—"

Mrs. Fredric held up her hand to silence Myka. "Never mention it." She turned the top half of the sphere causing the well-known glow.

"Myka, who was it?" HG started before she laid eyes on Mrs. Fredric. "Oh, uhm, hello...Ma'am. We were talking before you…What can I help you with?"

Myka started to step out, explaining "I'll just leave you two alone."

"Stay, Agent Berring." Mrs. Fredric commanded, stopping Myka in her tracks and not making her feel any less like a kid in trouble. She addressed Helena. "I want to make it very clear to you," The woman began, advancing slightly on HG. "Both of you," Still she only looked at Helena. "That your participation on this case is a privilege. It is also a part of your rehabilitation. But I will also remind you that your visits with Agent Berring are a privilege, a revocable one. No matter how they may be helping either one of you. Do I make myself clear?" Helena nodded. "Good. Now," she turned to Myka. "You, Agent Berring, are in charge of Ms. Wells. I assure you that  _if_ anything, negative or otherwise. were to transpire while you two are working this case, I will know about it."

"Yes, ma'am." Both women replied, making more eye contact with the floor than each other or Mrs. Fredric.

Mrs. Fredric nodded, "Good day, then." She was satisfied with the reception of her warning, and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"I'm  _in charge_  of you." Myka teased.

Helena raised an eyebrow at her. "You do realize that means almost nothing in my current state."

"Yes." Myka smiled proudly. " _Almost_  nothing."

"It's a pity you don't like me around." Helena shook her head. "Shall we proceed?"

"Why don't you trust me?" Myka raised her voice defensively at Pete.

"It's the kind of thing we should have agreed upon first. You can't just go straight to the regents." Pete's voice rose as well. "Look, each of us should have veto power. Artie'll agree with me. Right, Artie?"

"One; I have veto power over both of you." Artie explained unhappily. "And two; the regents have already decided to allow it." He eyed Pete. "So let it go."

"They said we can do it?" Myka asked, trying not to sound privy to any information.

Artie picked up the black sphere and turned it. "It is done."

Helena materialized, everyone in the room exchanged wary looks. "You're right, Myka, I do know what this is."

"I must have started drinking again," Pete rubbed the back of his head, frustrated. "Because the woman who tried to activate a super-volcano with a giant fork is standing here, and you're all acting like it's a potluck."

"No. No, no, no, no, Pete," Claudia corrected. "HG's not really here; she's a hologram." She explained. "That thing on Artie's desk is projecting her. I'm still trying to figure out how…"

Helena waved her hand through the piano. "Couldn't hurt a fly." She assured him, smiling a bit too widely, just happy to be back at the Warehouse, in any capacity.

"Pretty snazzy if you ask me." Claudia said, still impressed by whatever technology was doing this. "I mean, if she wasn't a volcano causing super-villain, like Pete said."

"Look," Myka redirected the conversation. "When HG first showed up," she began, trying not to make eye contact with the woman in question. "I-I read her files from Warehouse 12. I remember a case with the same details."

"You have my word, Pete," HG interjected. "My only intent here is to help."

"Oh," Pete scoffed. "'Cause your word means  _so_  much around here."

Helena ignored his sarcasm and finally risked a look at Myka. "I'm quite glad to see you here, Myka." She was nothing if not professional. "I'd like to think I had something to do with that." She was trying to accomplish two goals: to make it clear that she and Myka had not spoken in a long while, and to make herself look a bit better.

"Yeah, no ego there." Pete's tone was quickly escalating from unpleasant to plain mean. "Yeah, it's a shame Jinksy isn't here to see the  _freak show_."

"Pete." Myka admonished.

"Oh," Helena acted surprised. "Is there a new recruit?"

"He's on personal leave and," Artie stood eye-to-eye with HG's image. "Hands off."

Helena hadn't been expecting a particularly warm welcome, but it was starting to seem as if no one even wanted her assistance on the case. "Oh, don't know if you've heard," now even she was getting hostile. "Can't actually touch anything in my current holographic state." She was feeling more than a little put off and risked a callous comment. "How is your shoulder feeling, by the way?"

"Like you shot it." Artie growled.

Helena tried to hide her smile and responded a bit derisively. "Technically you did that."

Pete started to yell again, but Artie cut him off, ignoring HG's very true, contemptuous remark. "Moving on, like it or not," He was addressing Pete. "We're going to need her help." Artie explained the details of the case before turning back to HG. "So, here are the rules: You get to enjoy this change of scenery exactly as long as you are helping us." He gave her a stern look. "The second that that is over you go back to your…"

"Limbo prison?" Helena offered.

"Uh-huh."

Helena gave a single, solemn nod. "Understood."

"Tell us what you know." Artie instructed shortly.

Helena took a deep breath and gave Myka a quick glance. "Righty-ho, then." And she began to explain her run-in with the horn.

Everyone was listening to the more relevant details of the story, but Myka hung on every word. From Charles' party, and her flirting with both Mr. Crawley and some random Wells fangirl, to the explanation of a 19th century ping, Myka listened. She was slightly put off by the fact that current day Helena was romantically discerning and conservative compared to the indiscriminately 'charming' HG of the past.

Before HG could properly finish her account, Artie rushed into the records room. "This? This horn?" He pulled out a scroll of paper. "As in Joshua's trumpet?"

Helena nodded.

"As in Joshua who brought down the walls of Jericho?" Myka speculated. Then she explained the horn's origin to Claudia and Pete who were unacquainted with the tale.

Pete walked back into the office with an armful of papers, and right through HG.

"Pete," Myka scolded him again. "HG's dealt with this before, don't act like she's not even here."

"You just told me she isn't." Pete dismissed. "Which is fine by me, we don't need her." Artie stepped out to find another file on the horn, while Pete continued his attack on Helena's usefulness on this case. "It's probably not even the same artifact." Myka and Claudia insisted otherwise.

"Actually," Helena admitted "even if it is the same horn, I might not be able to help." She explained the events at the London Observatory. "After that it was back to the drawing board." She concluded.

Pete began an argument about the likelihood of someone building and launching a rocket in 1893. If he had been talking to anyone other than  _the_  HG Wells (whose very time machine he had used), he may have had a point. Myka was starting to realize that managing the bickering Helena and Pete was going to be a full-time job.

"Greenburg, Ohio! 1962!" Artie exclaimed, waving an old Warehouse file in the air. He read off all the information Jack and Rebecca had collected about the horn at its last sighting. This included eye witness testimony, the apparent crash site of the rocket that carried it, the victims, and, of course, their observation of the horn apparently vaporizing itself. Artie began to assign tasks.

"Is HG coming with us?" Myka asked, knowing full well that Artie's response only effected whether she informed anyone of Helena's company or not.

"Wait, wait, wait, what? So you trust her now?" Pete asked in disbelief.

"Well," Myka smiled at Helena and justified her confidence in her. "She could have killed me, and she didn't. Besides, she has nothing to gain anymore."

"Nothing to gain?!" Pete yelled. "She's in some 'woo-woo' prison someplace! 'Quid pro quo, Clairice.'" He quoted. "First she wants a room with a view. Next she's eating a guard's face!" Pete's insistence was reminding Myka of what Helena had told her about how fear so easily turns to hate.

"You do know I can hear you?" HG objected feeling very insulted. "You can trust me."

"Stop." Artie interrupted their quarreling. "She goes."

They began gathering the necessary files. "I've never been to Ohio." Helena grinned, rubbing her victory in Pete's face a little.

Artie twisted the sphere back making HG disappear. "And that's how you turn her off." He handed Myka the orb and gave them their final instructions. "If we cannot crack this case in the present we need all the help we can get from the past."


	9. Chapter 9

Myka, Helena, and Pete were examining Jack and Rebecca's destroyed car on a farm outside of Greenburg. It had been abandoned since 1962, but the markings were still visible and they were the same as those on the billboard.

"Hey, Mykes!" Pete exclaimed, finding a science fiction magazine in the car's trunk (and making a point to continue ignoring HG). "Astounding Tales. Never took Jack as the 'Astounding Tales' type, 'Playboy' maybe…"

Helena looked over his shoulder at the magazine. "One of my short-stories is in there." She told Myka, laughingly. "Imagine the royalties."

"Yeah, just what the world needs," Pete snidely replied. "A  _rich_ , homicidal maniac." HG rolled her eyes as he continued. "You can buy yourself a secret island lair and hire someone to twirl your mustache."

Helena lowered her voice to Myka. "Has he read one of my books?"

"Doubt it." Myka whispered back.

"You know, I can think of a lot better things to do with a" Helena raised her eyebrows suggestively, "secret island lair." Normally, Myka would have elbowed her, but stopped herself just in time. As it was, Helena was making a point of keeping her hands at her pockets so she could resist trying to touch anything at the scene.

The three continued their search of the farm and it didn't take long for Pete to find a channel that seemed to fit the bill for a rocket crash site. Then he spied a piece of metal. "Brass." He said, picking up the object. "Looks 1890's-ish, doesn't it?" He held it up for both women to see, and then tossed it at HG's hand. She reached for it, but, of course, it fell to the ground.

"Oop," Pete teased cruelly. "That's right. You can't catch 'cause you're in scary regent prison where you belong!" Myka shook her head at him; she had never seen Pete so bitterly cruel to someone. It was a very unattractive trait.

"Oh, that joke simply never gets old!" HG retorted. "This is from my rocket, I'm certain of it." She confirmed, trying to prove her usefulness.

Myka and Pete called Claudia on the Farnsworth to fill her in and check for news. Unfortunately, the horn had killed more people. Helena was feeling truly repentant that one of her inventions had caused harm to people. She never intended to hurt anyone.

Pete went off. "You know what, lady? You are bad news." Myka was certain that if HG was really, physically, there, it would have come to blows just then. "Whenever you show up people die, people disappear. One way or another everything turns to crap!"

Myka started fumbling in her purse for Helena's sphere. But she was a breath too late as HG had taken the bait. "You can't seriously be blaming me for these deaths!" Helena insisted in disbelief. "I am in prison!"

"You're responsible!" Pete yelled, literally pointing fingers at her.

"Pete, you're being completely unreasonable—" Helena continued, but was cut off by Myka twisting the sphere shut and locking her away. Mostly because it was the only way she knew to stop them arguing.

"The woman ruins everything!" Pete shouted.

"Pete." Myka tried to pacify her partner. "I'm back."

"Look, Myka—"

"No, I came back." Myka stated strongly.

"That doesn't change the fact…" Pete stopped his rant to take a deep breath. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"Me, too." Myka apologized, although her apology was for something else entirely. "Okay…"

Pete and Myka started connecting dots. By the time they found the first 1962 victim's son, Daniel, and the artifact, they were certain it was too late. Daniel was clearly mentally ill and being irrational. He set up a force field to protect himself and his equipment as soon as Pete and Myka arrived. When he started the countdown for the horn's next broadcasting at three minutes, they had all but given up hope. He wanted the aliens who took his father to know where he was and bring his father back.

Pete was desperate, and then he realized how HG might actually be helpful. "Myka, do you still have the sphere?"

"What?" Myka was confused.

"Turn it on." Pete insisted. "Trust me."

Myka quickly dug the sphere from her bag and released a very grumpy Helena. "Oh," she addressed Pete. "Is it time to berate me more?"

Pete explained who Daniel was and that HG was the owner of the rocket. Daniel was shocked. "You're the alien? The device is yours?"

"I-I built the rocket that carried it here, yes." She tried to catch herself up on the situation. "I'm sorry about your father, Daniel. He's gone."

Before they knew it, Daniel had a gun pointed at HG's image. She didn't know what she could do to help, so she started to talk. "Pete's right. His father's death is my fault." She sighed. "Daniel, I am responsible. But, please, you have to listen to me." She stepped up and through the electric force field. It hurt, but she was the only one of them able to do it.

"We've all lost loved ones unfairly. For me it was my daughter. I was so angry and in such pain; I almost hurt a great many people." She reached to fiddle with her locket. "I didn't care who I hurt, I was just like you. But revenge won't make you feel any better," Myka's eyes went from Helena to Pete and back. How had he known that HG could help? "And it doesn't bring our loved ones back. This isn't the answer."

Daniel began to cry as Helena's words sunk in. "Why did you send it? Why did he have to die?"

"Oh, Daniel," Helena explained herself with a heavy heart. "It was an accident, a terrible accident. It was my job to keep the horn from hurting anyone, and I failed. And your father and you, you paid for my failure." Daniel lowered his gun. "And for that I am dreadfully sorry." Either HG was getting very good at lying or she truly felt remorse, Pete couldn't quite tell. "No one else needs to die now, do they?"

Daniel canceled the countdown and lowered the force field. Helena reached to comfort him, but remembered she couldn't. As Pete and Myka went about collecting the horn, HG leaned against a wall, out of the way.

She turned to examine the wall, and placed her hand against it again. It was solid. No,  _she_  was solid. She looked around to make sure no one else saw her. She glanced for a clock as she continued to test her physical condition. About ten seconds later she fell through the panel. She calculated that she had been solid for two minutes and fifteen seconds after the force field had been dropped; the same amount of time she had stood inside the barrier. She had no idea what to do with the information, but she was positive that the electric current had caused it. And that she could, eventually, put this discovery to good use.


	10. Kidding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved this chapter. I actually hadn't watched Magnetism...But I love that episode too.

Pete and Myka called back to the Warehouse to share how they'd snagged and bagged the artifact. Claudia and Artie were pleased; another disaster avoided. They started to clean up the desks in the office when Claudia came across an old picture of HG and her old partner in 1893. "Hey," she started carefully speaking to Artie. "Would I get…yelled at if I said it was kinda nice having HG back?"

Artie looked at his surrogate daughter sadly. "Just…don't get used to it." He gave her a stern, but caring look that told her to drop it.

Myka and HG were together again in the Warehouse for the first time, at least with HG being a hologram. "You should feel quite proud right now." Helena praised.

"Why is that?" asked Myka.

"Three teams of agents," HG smiled, pleased for Myka. "Over more than a century dedicated themselves to this case…But you and Pete are the ones who succeeded." Helena kept her arms crossed to help her remember to keep her hands to herself.

"With your help." Myka reminded her.

Helena smiled to herself and breathed. "We did make a good team, didn't we?"

"We did." Myka nodded. Then sadness reached her eyes. "And then you…" Helena made no excuses. "I just wish you had realized that sooner."

"So do I." Helena agreed forlornly. She wanted so badly to kiss Myka, to prove how sorry she was and that her feelings had never changed. And she would have made every effort in her power to do so, had Pete not walked up at that very moment. The boy had wonderful timing.

Pete stopped and looked HG up and down. She steeled herself for another barrage of insults. "Good work out there." He said, and continued past them down the aisle.

Helena and Myka both smiled, more than a little surprised. Myka picked up the black orb and looked at it, painfully aware of Pete's nearby presence. "Good bye, Helena."

HG nodded, silently questioning the change from Myka's usual valediction. She was certain that this time Myka meant it when she said 'good bye'. For starters, she had never uttered those exact words to her before. And it would be completely reasonable for Myka to wish not to see her again after her childish behavior with Latimer. Perhaps Myka had learned something by mediating a hostile HG and a hostile and bitter Pete. Something that was not good for Helena. 'Good bye' probably meant Myka was done with her.

Myka nodded again and turned the orb back, drawing Helena inside. She released a long, shaky breath that she had even known she was holding, and put on a brave face for Pete. He made a joke on their way back to the office that Myka laughed at, although she hadn't heard enough of it to know if it was actually funny. She was too busy coming up with a way to get Helena back home with her without anyone noticing.

When they entered Artie's office the only one there was Claudia who was doing some work on her laptop. "So," Pete grabbed the sphere from Myka like it was a basketball. "What do we do with the crazy lady?"

Claudia looked up. This was not going to end well.

"Pete!" Myka cried. "Give it back." There was something dangerous in her voice that made Pete decide to do as he was told for once.

"Are we gonna keep her in the dark vault and throw away the key?" He asked, jokingly. "We could put her with the rest of her things."

"Pete," Myka cautioned.

He didn't get the message. "Can you bronze objects?"

"Pete," Claudia warned, mostly concerned for what Myka would do to him, but also worried for Myka's well-being.

"Well, you gotta admit, it's nice to know she's locked up and can't do any more damage." Pete shrugged. "But if bronze couldn't hold her, why do the regents think that thing will?" He took the ball back out of Myka's hands again, this time she put up more of a fight.

"Pete!" Claudia stood up. "Just forget about it." She grabbed the orb back and gave it to Myka with a weak smile.

"Hey!" He protested. "I was just having fun."

"I'll take care of it, Pete." Myka assured him, trying to hide how upset he was making her.

"Alright," he was failing at being playful. "I was thinking maybe we could crush it with Thor's hammer or something—"

"SHUT UP, PETE!" Myka finally screamed. Tears were forming in her eyes. "I promise you, if you don't shut up," she was advancing on him fast enough that he had to step back.

Claudia stepped up between them. "Hey, cool it." She put her arm out to block Myka. "It's okay." Myka was still shooting daggers at Pete. "Right, Pete?" Claudia insisted. "Everything's cool?"

"Yeah," Pete said, still unsure of why Myka had flipped out. "I was just kidding."

"It. Wasn't. Funny." Myka growled.

"You know how 'Pete jokes' are, Myka." Claudia tried to laugh to lighten the tension. "The only one who thinks they're funny is Pete."

Myka turned away from Pete and faced Claudia. "He wants to hurt her!" Her voice was louder and slightly higher pitched than normal.

"What's the big deal?" Pete seriously needed to learn when to quit. "It's not like she's a real person or anything, I wouldn't be hurting anyone if—"

"Pete, I said shut up!" Claudia yelled. She was physically restraining Myka at this point, and Myka was much stronger than her.

Myka thrust the ball into Claudia's hands. "Hold this." She said.

As soon as Claudia released her, to take the ball, Myka was across the room. She hit Pete hard in the stomach and knocked him to the ground. Then literally climbed on top of him. "You. Never. Say. Anything. About. Her. Ever!" Myka punctuated each word with a blow to his face and chest. "If. You. Ever! Do. Any. Thing. To. Hurt. Her. I. Will. Kill. You!" Myka must have struck him two dozen times, and wasn't slowing down. Pete was still in shock and barely starting to block her blows. Still, Myka was not slowing down; she was swinging madly and without discretion.

Claudia dropped the ball on the table and grabbed her mini-Tesla. She wasn't sure who to aim it at. Myka was the one who needed to be stopped, but Pete really deserved it. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger, letting the gun decide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be honest, I dislike Pete. (Could you tell?)


	11. Involved

"You. Will. Never! Understand." The sound of fists on flesh continued.

Claudia ran to Myka and started to pull her off. "Myka! Myka!" She yelled. "He's out." Tesla still gripped in her right hand, Claudia grabbed one of Myka's wrists. "Hey," She whispered. "Calm down, okay?" She pulled Myka to Artie's chair. "What happened?" Claudia asked, then, "Never mind, I  _know_  what happened. But you gotta take it easy."

Myka had come up crying, tears stained her face and blood stained her hands. She had gotten Pete in the nose a couple of times and he was bleeding pretty nicely. "He wanted…" Myka sobbed, still out of breath from her outburst.

"Shhshh, I know." Claudia stroked the brunette's hair. "He didn't mean it."

"Why didn't he shut up?!" Myka was getting worked up again. "She just saved thousands of innocent lives. She did something none of us ever could." She sniffed. "And he still wouldn't shut up about her. Can't he see she's changed?"

"Hey," Claudia pulled up a chair so she could look Myka in the eye. "How long have you and HG been talking?"

"Months."

"See? You've had plenty of time for HG to apologize and prove herself." She glanced over to Pete, still out cold. "The last time Pete saw her, she tried to blow up the world. That takes a little time to get over." She offered a smile.

Myka looked up at the wise, young woman. "Di-did I knock him out?"

"You were getting pretty close, Chiquita." Claudia got up to check his pulse. "But no, that was me and the polyphase ass-kicker."

Myka wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Why did you shoot him? I was the one—"

"Eh, he deserved it." She shrugged. "But he has  _no idea_  why you got so upset with him."

"Oh," Myka tried to laugh at herself, but ended up just snorting snot. "I forgot."

"Yeah, still," Claudia handed Myka a handful of tissues. "Dude really needs to learn to take a hint…Are you okay now?"

"Yeah," she blew her nose. "I don't know what came over me."

"Love, in its most passionate and brutal form." Claudia smiled as if it was a good thing. "Do you wanna get outta here before he wakes up?"

"No." Myka shook her head. "I should apologize."

"Okay, but words, not fists."

Myka nodded. "Okay, but if you need to, I give you permission to zap me."

"Deal."

Pete groaned from the floor. "Wha..?" He sat up and looked around, eyes big. He saw Myka's hands covered in blood. "Shit, Mykes, what happened? Did someone attack us?" He reached up to wipe his bloody nose. And it started to come back to him. He tried to stand. "Was that an artifact?"

"No." "Yes." The girls answered at the same time. Claudia interrupted Myka. "Mushrooms! Wild mushrooms…In her salad."

"Really?" Pete asked, feeling pain everywhere on his body. "That doesn't really…" He cocked his head. "Tell me what happened, Mykes."

Myka sighed and looked to Claudia, who shrugged. "I was mad at you…For saying you would hurt Helena." Myka tried to leave it at that, but Pete was like a blind dog with a bone.

"Are you sure she didn't whammy you so you'd attack me?" Pete asked. "'Cause that would make a lot of se—"

"Pete!" Claudia yelled. "Do you  _really_ want to get beat up by a girl…Again?" She started to mop up Myka's hands clean of Pete's blood, but it was hard as said hands were currently flexing in and out of fists. "Why don't you just go home, Pete?"

He looked between the two women and rolled his shoulders a little. "Fine." He started for the door. "But you should check for an artifact tha—"

"Pete, I swear to God, if you say another word…" Myka yelled and tried to stand, Claudia pushed her back down.

"Go, Pete. I got this." Claudia insisted.

He started to enter the code on the door lock. "Still don't see why I had to get beat up…"

"I loved her." Myka whispered, barely audible.

"Huh?" Pete said, turning back to a very emotionally unstable Myka.

Myka looked at her shoes. "I loved her, Pete."

"Who?" Pete asked, completely oblivious, which sadly was not a side effect from the Tesla zap.

"Helena." Myka whispered. "I loved her madly."

Pete started to walk back. "You and HG?" He shook his head not believing a word of it. "You do realize she tried to kill you, and everyone in the whole wide world?"

"Pete." Claudia advised. "Remember what I said about leaving?"

"Yeah, yeah, just…" Pete rubbed the back of his head. "You and HG, huh? Well, that explains a lot…"

"Like what?!" Myka barked angrily.

"Well, like why you never hit on me or anything." Pete mused. "I'd kinda wondered why—"

"I don't hit on you because you're an ass." Myka snarled. "It's also the reason I chose to actually hit you."

Pete started to get closer to Myka, which was really not in his best interest. "You and HG?" He repeated. "Well, high-five, she is one hell of a kisser. Good for you for at least for scoring—"

"I love her!" Myka corrected. "I did not 'score' with her. I love her. The mere thought of your lips on hers sickens me. You are not worthy of her. She is beautiful, and intelligent, and understanding."

"And as a plus, she tried to blow up the earth." He countered. Now he was getting worked up. If she couldn't defuse this soon, Claudia was just going to Tesla both of them and lock them up together; let the best man or woman win.

"Pete," Myka was starting to cool down, just as Pete was heating her back up. "I don't expect you to understand why, or how, but now that I have told you the 'who' and I would appreciate it if you could respect my decision." She looked him dead in the eye, no waver or indication of humor in her voice. "And if you try to do anything to harm her; I will—"

"Well! I don't think anyone needs to hear the end of that sentence. Right, guys?" Claudia was getting exhausted refereeing the two agents' fight. "I think we can respect that we are all adults here, and as adults we are free to make our own choices."

"Yeah, unless that choice is to be all buddy-buddy with a killer." Pete stomped his foot in a very juvenile manner. "How the hell does that even work?"

"What does it matter how as long as it does?" Myka tried to stand up again. And again, Claudia pushed her back.

"Stay down." She sighed. "Okay, Pete? Myka? I think we all need to step back and breathe." Claudia tried again to get them to cool off and stop acting like children. "Obviously Myka and HG have something very unique that they would prefer to keep private. I think if we all agree to forget this conversation slash bloodbath ever happened, that would be for the best. Clean slate." Claudia clapped her hands together in an 'all-done' signal, but neither agent showed signs of concession. "I mean, Myka, you don't want to have tell everyone that Pete got beat up by a hundred and ten pound girl and that  _I_  had to come to his rescue, right?"

Pete looked down. "No."

"And Pete? There's no reason to get anyone else involved in all" she made a gesture that encompassed Myka and the orb. "This."

Myka looked down too. "I don't think there is."

"Right." Claudia agreed. "So, let's just walk away as civil, more compassionate people." Even she seriously didn't by her own line of B.S.

"Okay," Myka nodded. "I'm just going to…Go." She picked up the sphere and her bag and headed to the Umbilicus.

"Wai—" Pete opened his mouth to object to Myka taking the ball with her.

"Pete," Claudia shook her head. "This matter is none of your concern." She was starting to sound like Mrs. Fredric.

"But if she hurts someone." He protested.

Claudia gave a look. "She's a hologram, what's she gonna do, block someone's view of the TV?"

"She's dangerous, Claude."

"Not in her current state." She reassured him. "All she is right now is an image and a voice." She paused. "And Myka needs her."

"Bu—"

"Pete, let them be. It's not your place to get involved in what's best for Myka. Someone higher up on the food-chain has already approved this." Claudia stretched. "If Myka is happy, isn't that enough for you? I'm good with it." She shrugged and gave a 'can't we all just get along' smile.

Pete nodded, taking it in. "I'm not happy about it." He was bordering on pouting. "I don't like the woman…But if Myka's happy and no one's getting hurt, I guess it's okay." He rubbed the knot on the back of his head from when Myka had thrown him to the floor. "Did HG teach Myka ken-poo?"

"No, dude." Claudia laughed. "You just need to learn to keep your mouth shut and quit while you're, well, behind. Maybe we should make up a code word that says 'Pete. Your foot, it's in your mouth.' You know, so Myka doesn't have to put her foot…" Claudia eyed Pete up and down. "…Anywhere."

"Like 'mustard' or something?" He asked.

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of…" She pretended to think. "I think 'dumbass' has a good ring to it…"

They walked out the door to Pete's car. "Hey, how am I supposed to explain all this?" He waved his hand in front of his face. "She bruised the moneymaker."

"Jack Dempsey's boxing gloves." Claudia nodded. "They pack a punch almost as good as Myka."

"Aw, man, don't we have a healing artifact or something?"

"Not unless you want syphilis, too." She smirked and touched his bruised jaw. "I gotta admit it, Pete I'm proud of you." She padded his chin roughly. "You took that beating like a man, a very girly, quadriplegic man, but a man, nonetheless."


	12. Bleeding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: For SI

Myka drug herself up the stairs to her bedroom. Perhaps she was wrong to hit Pete. Okay, she knew she was wrong to do it. But she couldn't stand to hear him talk about hurting HG, even if she was only a hologram. Still, even if Pete had been actively threatening Helena, a real physical Helena, her actions may still have been an overreaction. If Claudia hadn't been there Myka would have come close to seriously injuring him, even more than she had.

She slammed the door shut behind her and started pulling out clothes to change into; her current outfit had nose-blood on it. She really needed to learn better hand-to-hand combat skills. The "knock 'em down and start punching" approach really only works if one has the element of surprise in their favor. Myka wished she could train with HG; they had started on some Kenpo techniques before the incident at Yellowstone.

One fact that was not lost on Myka was the fact that she had not just beat Pete up, she was screaming at him the whole time. If she was more into psychology she would take the time to analyze her angry words and decide what they really meant. But she was almost certain that her words meant exactly what she said. If Pete, or anyone else, tried to tear Helena away from her, they were subject to unfortunate consequences (to say the least). Still, clearly there was something wrong with Myka if she felt  _Pete_ , her partner of two and a half years, was a threat to her relationship.

Myka sighed deeply and picked up her clothes to head to the bathroom for a hot shower. She was about to remove her top when she heard a voice out of nowhere, making her jump.

"That was good work, Agent Bering." It was, of course, the caretaker of the Warehouse.

"Mrs. Fredric! You should know that it's still creepy when you do that." Myka caught her breath. "Thanks, but why are you in my bedroom, again?" She paused. "Is this about Pete?"

"No, Agent Bering, is there something I should know about Agent Lattimer?" She replied, as if she had every right to be where she was.

Myka shook her head. "No, just…No."

"Good, I wanted to get your official report on Ms. Wells' behavior on the case." She continued.

"Oh," Myka straightened up. "I-I hadn't written anything up yet. I can though, if you give me a few—"

"An oral report will do just fine." Mrs. Fredric held up her hand again. That motion could stop anything.

"Well, Helena, I mean," Myka corrected herself, "Ms. Wells was very helpful in the intel stage of the case, especially. She had a lot of useful information about the artifact, as we suspected she would. Beyond that, she even helped talk down the man in possession of the artifact." Myka did her best to sell HG's value.

"And how did she accomplish that seeing as she has no physical form?" Mrs. Fredric asked.

"Well, you don't need a body to  _talk_  someone down." She tried to make it sound like a joke, but failed. "She sympathized with him, about loss and the desire for revenge." She paused. "I feel like she's come out of her experience a better person."

"You are referring to her experience of trying to set another ice age into motion?"

"Yes." Myka focused on sounding professional. "That…I can get her if you would like." Myka offered.

"No need. Just let her know her help was appreciated and unless she is needed elsewhere she will remain in your custody."

"Thank you, Mrs. Fredric."

Mrs. Fredric had her hand on the doorknob. "Agent Bering? Do you feel, as an objective agent not a private citizen, that Ms. Wells will be ever be able to return to the Warehouse as a fully reinstated agent?"

"I-I" Myka thought it over. "I believe that, for the time being, the world is safer with HG Wells not having access to dangerous artifacts. Seeing as one of her final reasons for her actions was that she had the Minoan trident accessible to her." Myka chewed her lip slightly. "However, one day she may be able to be released into the general public and be a productive member of society."

"Thank you for your honesty, Agent Bering."

Myka nodded once more. As soon as Mrs. Fredric was  _really_  gone, Myka quickly pulled the sphere out of her bag and activated it. Normally Helena is pacing when Myka calls upon her. (Sometimes she will be siting, lying down, or practicing Tai Chi. Once she was sleeping, although Myka felt that was a rarity.) So when Helena appeared in the middle of Myka's room, hugging her knees to her chest, eyes puffy and red, with tears streaming down her face, there were plenty of reasons for Myka to be worried.

Helena's head was down and her shoulders trembled with every sobbing breath. Myka couldn't tell how long she had been like that, but it was clearly long enough to get herself worked up quite a bit. Myka slowly approached the quivering form. She had never, in the entire time she'd known HG seen her like this. It was similar to her reaction to seeing Christina in Warehouse 2, but worse. When Helena had done the soul test, she had remembered that she wanted to end the world, because of what she lost. She had had a goal to move onto. Even if it was a very, very bad one. But now, she looked completely without hope. Myka imagined this is what she looked like the first time she lost Christina.

Indeed, Helena looked like she wished nothing more than to disappear into a little ball of nothing. Myka knelt next to her image. She could tell she hadn't been noticed yet. Then she noticed the other woman's movements. Helena was clawing blindly at the skin on her wrists leaving welts and scratches; with every second more skin came off under her fingernails. Myka was horrified to say the least. But she also felt that HG needed her closeness more than anything, especially more than she needed her judgment. Without giving it a second thought or giving HG a heads-up, the young agent turned up her Tesla to ten and fired it at the orb.

Helena let out a cry of pain, but she finally looked around her. "Myka?" She gasped tearfully, letting go of her wrists. Myka rushed down onto the floor and threw her arms around the upset woman, and rubbed her back in calming circles. "Myka?!"

"Shh-shh, it's okay. I'm here." She held tightly to her friend and soothed her. "What's wrong, baby?"

"You said 'good bye,'" Helena wept.

Myka's eyes widened. "You thought…Oh, god, Helena." She held her tighter. "I promised. I'll never leave you. I'll never let you go."

Helena sniffed. "I just thought that I-I'd done something to upset you."

"No, you never…" She tried to find the right words. "It was for Pete's benefit."

Helena nodded still crying a little, but trying hard to stop. She wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist. "Oh, bullocks, I'm all weepy. Sorry, I must look horrid."

"You are beautiful." Myka assured her, wiping a tear off Helena's cheek with the pad of her thumb. She took the older woman's hands in hers and turned over her wrists. "Helena, are you okay? You're bleeding."

Helena nodded, finally swallowed the lump in throat. "I guess I just got carried away. I was so certain you were gone forever."

"I'm sorry…How long have you been like this?"

"Five minutes or so." She looked up at Myka. "'The cramped monotony of my existence grinds me away by the grain' I'm afraid."

Myka smiled sweetly at her love's ability to quote literature under even the most dismal circumstances. "I love you madly." She offered from beneath her eyelashes. "It's been a few hours out here."

"Ah, that makes sense." She tried to sound okay. She pushed her sleeves down. "They'll heal." She promised the younger woman. "I just—you've never said 'good bye' before."

"Sorry. It was just Pete." Myka started. As she began speaking, HG's body faded out of her fingers. "I hadn't wanted to tell him the truth about us." Her voice got tighter as she spoke. "But then he took you, the sphere, from me and he said all this stuff and I was just so mad…"

"What happened?"

"He took your orb from me and started saying all this stuff about how he was going to break it and it just got to me for some reason" Myka explained, her voice tensing. "I just couldn't stand it! He said all this awful stuff about you…"

"Hmph," HG grumbled. "I thought we were getting along a nicely considering…What did you do, darling?"

"I hit him." Myka whispered.

The older woman raised her eyebrows. "You did what?"

"I hit him." Myka said a little louder. "A lot."

"Myka…You do realize that would give him some idea that  _something_  is up?" Helena teased. "Did he hurt you?" Helena noted the blood on Myka's shirt. "You're bleeding, too."

"No." Myka shook her head. "I got a couple of good hits in. I think I broke his nose. That's Pete's blood." Myka realized how disgusting it was to have another person's blood all over her clothes. She pulled a face.

"What's wrong, dear?" Helena asked concerned.

"I-I just thought about it, and I'm covered in Pete's blood."

"Well," HG sighed. "Not  _completely_  covered…Do you want to tidy yourself up a bit?"

"Yeah. That would probably help." Myka stood and picked up the black sphere.

"Ta-ta for now, then?" The brit forced up the corners of her mouth the tiniest amount.

"No, I was just" Myka gestured to the other room. "I was moving you to the bathroom so we can talk while I shower."

"Thank you." The raven-haired woman smiled with her eyes. "I'm not ready to go back, yet."

"And I'm not ready to send you back."


	13. Think About It

Myka pulled her shirt over her head and unbuttoned her pants, sliding them down off her hips and kicked them into a pile on the tile floor. She had grown accustomed enough to Helena's presence and decided to just accept that while their relationship was unconventional, they were pretty much living together. And since Helena didn't mind appreciating her getting dressed and undressed; Myka didn't mind being appreciated some.

"So, the thing with Pete…" Myka started to explain. "I probably would have done a lot more damage to him if Claudia hadn't stepped in." She unclasped her bra and dropped it to the ground. Her back was still to HG. "I'm not proud of what I did. I acted rashly and," Myka laughed at herself, or at least tried to. "I'm a little ashamed that I didn't, uhm, do more damage to him. He's banged up a little, but I was on him for a decent amount of time and still didn't knock him out or anything."

"So, let me get this straight," Helena laughed a little too. She was standing in the doorway, trying very hard to look only directly at Myka's back, not the reflection of her front in the mirror. "You're not as upset that you lost control of yourself and attacked your partner as you are that you didn't do a good job of it?"

"Well," Myka turned on the shower and started to brush her hair. "I'm a secret service agent; I'd like to think I can take down someone of Pete's size at least."

"Ah, okay." Helena pretended to understand. "You do carry two firearms at all times, do you not?"

Myka nodded and set the brush back on the counter. "That's not really the point though." She stuck her hand in the spray of the shower and turned the nob down. Finally, she stepped out of her panties.

"So, do you want me to keep teaching you Kenpo skills?" Helena offered. "I think that could help with your…Effectiveness. But I will remind you that you probably broke Pete's nose, and that is pretty effective"

"I know that." Myka said, her tone had argumentativeness to it. "Could you train me? I mean, without being here for real."

"I actually have an idea about that. I may have discovered something today." Helena tested the waters with care. "Something about the orb."

"What?" Myka turned to look the other woman in the eye, knowingly giving her a complete view of her naked body. "How will that make a difference with training me?" She rested her hands on her hips and cocked her head ever-so-slightly to the left, letting her hair fall over her collarbone.

Helena's eye roamed freely over the topography of Myka's body. (If she was a more modest woman, she would have been ashamed of her boldness.) Myka had the most flawless creamy skin and beautiful, perky breasts. Her nipples were rosy peeks slightly pebbled from the chill of the room. As Helena looked lower across the flat plane of her stomach and soft curve of her hips, she finally let her eyes linger at the apex of Myka's thighs. Myka's centre was different from what Helena was used to, the major difference being that Myka had absolutely no hair. Still she continued her way down the younger woman's slim legs and muscular thighs before allowing her gaze to return to Myka's quim. Helena wrinkled her nose a little in discontent.

"What's wrong?" Myka asked a little concerned with Helena's look of displeasure. "Is there something you don't like?" Myka reached for a towel to wrap around her, suddenly self-conscious.

Helena shook herself out of her lust induced trance. "No, darling." She reached up to stop her girlfriend's attempt to conceal herself. "You're beautiful. I just," She turned her head to side a bit looking again at Myka's most intimate place.

"I feel like an art exhibit." Myka objected. "And not the good kind."

"Sorry." Helena shivered again. "Your, uhm, your muff," Helena tried to explain.

"My what?" Myka asked looking herself over. "Oh! That. Yes?"

"You," Helena was torn between laughing at her conclusion and being completely disgusted about it. "You look like a child." She concluded.

Myka's eyes went wide. "I-I never thought of it like that." She looked down at her nakedness, a little uncomfortable with it herself. "It's the style now." She tried to justify. "I guess it is a bit much, isn't it?"

Helena shrugged. "If you're happy with it…it is your body."

"What do you look like down there?" Myka queried.

 _Like a grown woman should_. Helena thought, but decided she had insulted Myka enough for one evening. "I'm natural; I guess would be the term." She tried. "I keep it neat, but not completely…" She waved her hand towards the other woman's nether regions. "But like I said, it's your body."

"I know." Myka objected lightly. "I just always assumed any man I was with would prefer it. Sam liked me like this." She paused, talking about Sam still hurt. "It's kind of a nuisance." She resolved. "I think I'll skip my next appointment at the salon, or at least have them leave something."

Helena smiled, pretty sure if she just liberated a 21st century woman of a social confine. "Your shower's probably getting cold."

"Right." Myka nodded, stepping over the lip of the tub and pulling the curtain shut. "So, you were saying? About the orb?"

"Yes, well when we were in Pittsburg, the second time, I stumbled upon a little, curiosity, if you will." She began. "Do you recall me walking through the force field?"

"Yeah?" Myka called, raising her voice slightly over the sound of the water.

"I noticed something out of the ordinary, afterwards." She continued.

Myka stuck her head out of the curtain a little, shampoo suds in her hair. "What?"

"I was solid."

Myka looked at her for a moment, but the soap was dripping into her eyes. "Hold on." She closed the curtain again and finished rinsing her hair. "What do you mean 'solid'? Like when I Tesla the orb?"

"In a way, darling." She tried not to sound too eager about her discovery. "After the field dropped, I was still solid for the same amount of time as I was inside the shield."

"Hmm." Was Myka's only response.

"I-I'd like to see if we can replicate the result by setting up our own electromagnetic field and seeing what happens."

"To what end?" Myka asked mocking HG some.

"I'd like to teach you more Kenpo, of course, and that's much easier if I can shape you and spar." She said, and then admitted. "I'd also like to make love to you. If you would allow it."

Silence, save for Myka's safety razor hitting the floor of the tub.

"Darling?" Helena asked, a little worried. "Are you alright?"

More silence.

"Myka, if you don't say something, I will have to come in there."

"I-I don't know what to say." Myka confessed. "I have no objections, I just…I'm still trying to wrap my head around it." She picked up the shaving blade. "I was just accustoming myself to the idea of having a holographic girlfriend who I cannot touch."

"We can't be certain that that isn't the case." Helena reminded. "It very well could have been a fluke, or my imagination. I do have a tendency to see what I want to see at times."

"I'll think about it." Myka decided, turning off the faucet. Myka paused. "And I've never been with a woman, you know."

"I had a suspicion, dear." Helena smirked at Myka's anxiety. It was cute in a woman who was usually so confident. "I'm still not promising it would even come to that."

"We'd have to have Claudia set it up for us." Myka conceded aloud.

"True. Do you think she'd be willing?"

Myka stepped out of the shower, dripping wet, and picked up her towel. Her hair hung in tendrils around her face. "I think she'd volunteer. She really likes the idea of us being" Myka twisted the water out of her hair. "Us. I guess."

"Just give yourself some time to decide if we should even try it. I'm certain the regents did not plan for my sentence to include conjugal visits." Helena stated flatly.

Myka laughed at her, patting herself dry with the pink towel.

"Was there something you needed to tell me?" HG changed the subject artfully.

"What? Oh," Myka was still distracted at the thought of actually, physically being with her girlfriend. "Uhm, Mrs. Fredric stopped by."

"Did she?" Helena could not hide the eagerness in her voice. "I presume all is well seeing as I'm still here."

"You presume correctly." Myka beamed, towel wrapped around her body as she plucked the projector ball off the counter and carried it back into the main room. "She said she was pleased with your performance and wanted you to know you were appreciated." Myka said happily. "Also," hesitation was evident in her voice. "She asked if I thought there was any chance of you being able to return as an agent."

Helena's eyebrows rose.

"I told her, that while you were a pivotal part of the collection of this artifact, and I did think you had learned from, you know," Myka tilted her head at Helena.

"The events at Yellowstone?"

"Yes." Myka tried not to sound harsh. "I said you would need time to adjust before you could resist the lure of being surrounded by artifacts."

Helena nodded agreeably. "Good, that's a diplomatic answer; polite, but vague."

"I didn't say anything against you. But she asked me to respond as an agent, and as an agent," Myka sighed. "It's my job to protect the world from the misuse of artifacts."

"I agree with you completely, dear." Helena assured her. "I would be more concerned if you had said 'yes' as I, myself, am not ready for that sort of responsibility and temptation again." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm not saying I like it here, I just don't think I want to be thrown right back into the thick of it all."

Myka nodded, pleased that Helena was not hurt by her response. She pulled on her pajamas and started to crawl into bed. Helena watched her movements carefully, and waited for her inevitable return to her prison.

"Are you putting me back now?" The shorter woman asked.

"I'd like you to stay the night, again." Myka half-pleaded.


	14. Interruptions

Helena smiled and was about to lie beside her love on the bed when there was a knock. Helena scurried to hide in the closet, not the best or most original plan but it was a bit of a gut reaction. Myka hid the ball under a pillow.

"Mykes?" It was Pete. Myka had few people she wanted to speak to less than her partner. "Are you in there?"

Helena nodded for Myka to answer. "Yes, Pete, I am."

"Can I come in and talk?" He asked timidly. Myka rolled her eyes but told him it was okay. When Pete opened the door Myka saw how badly she had injured the poor man. "Hey, I'm sorry, Mykes. I didn't realize—"

"You're sorry?" Myka asked a bit confused. Pete had two black eyes, a fat lip, and bruised jaw, and that was just what was visible from across the room. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. Pete, I had no idea I did that much harm to you."

"This? It's nothing." The male agent shrugged. "I bruise like a peach. And really, after Claudia explained it all to me, I had no idea what you and Lady Cuckoo had going on."

"'Lady Cuckoo?'" Helena objected from the corner.

Pete furrowed his brow and entered the room, the door shutting silently behind him. "Was that..?"

Myka stammered, but HG stepped out of the closet and waved, somewhat embarrassed. "Hello, again, Pete."

"Hi." He said to the floor. "I see you're here."

"Yes, she is." Myka interjected.

"Darling," HG approached him. "You have a little something…" She pointed to the biggest bruise on his face.

"Thanks." He lied.

"Listen, Pete, I really am tired." Myka interrupted what was surely about to become and argument. "I was just about to put HG back. Can we not talk about this tomorrow?"

Pete nodded. "I'll let you two do, whatever it is you two do." He started to back away to the door, and he was just closing it as he stuck his head back in and asked. "Hey what is it that do you two do? I'd enjoy having a visual, you know, so I can think about it."

The pillow hit the door behind Pete as he shut it after him.

"Does he always call me 'Lady Cuckoo' like that?" Helena questioned, falling on to the bed beside Myka.

The emerald-eyed girl shrugged and teased. "He means it in the best way, I assure you."

"I'm sure he does." She agreed and finally settled onto the bed next to Myka. She stifled a yawn.

Myka laughed. "I thought you don't get tired."

"So did I." Helena said a little curiously. "I did have a very big day. You know, with the investigation and the collection of the artifact, arguing with Pete all day…" Helena hesitated. "And the sudden realization of my crippling abandonment issues." It was said in a joking manner, but Myka heard the seriousness in her partner's voice.

"I meant what I said; I will never let you go." Myka swore to her. "Never ever."

Helena smiled and again, as she opened her mouth to respond, there was knocking. She rolled her eyes. "What does he want now?"

Myka shrugged and shook her head. "What do you want, Pete?" Myka yelled through the door.

"I'm not Pete." Claudia yelled back. "Can we talk?"

Helena moved to hide in the corner again but Myka indicated for her to stay put. "Come on in, Claude."

Claudia opened the door and stepped in, closing it tightly behind her and being very secretive. "Oh," she said, seeing HG on the bed. "I didn't know you had company." She stood awkwardly.

"You can sit down, Claudia, it's fine." Myka told the young woman.

Helena smiled at Myka. "I still make her nervous, darling."

"No," the red-head protested, but she looked at HG with a smile all the same. "I'm not used to conversing with holograms, yet."

"Is there something I can help you with, Claudia?" Myka asked, not meaning to sound short, but still trying to convey the fact that they wanted to be left alone.

"Yeah," Claudia said, resisting the urge to run her hands through HG's image. "It's probably better that you're both here." She turned to Helena. "I assume she told you what happened today."

Helena nodded. "Inexplicit details, yes, she did."

"Okay then," Claudia nodded. "Then you can guess that as much as I enjoyed seeing Pete get the crap beat outta him, that can't happen again."

Both women signaled their concurrence.

"So, are you guys gonna come out or is Myka Tyson going to try and be less overly-sensitive?"

The two older women shared a look. "It's probably best not to 'come out' as you said," HG concluded. "But Myka and I will discuss what appropriate responses to that sort of situation might be." She nodded as if to say 'that's that.'

Claudia indicated indecisiveness with her head. "Okay," she stood to leave. "It was nice to have you back, HG." She went to turn the doorknob and, like everyone else (what is with these people) stopped. "Don't go too easy on her, 'kay?" She said flashing a smile, her eyes were far more suggestive than her words, and made Myka blush a little.

"I don't intend to do so." Helena coincided with a knowing grin.

Once again the women were alone. Myka jumped out of bed and locked her door. "Let's see if that deters anyone." She sighed, falling back next to her love. "I really am glad they know. It's just nice to not have you be a big secret like I'm ashamed of you."

"I don't think having a relationship with a homicidal maniac slash hologram with separation anxiety is something to be exceptionally proud of, dear." Helena quipped.

"I don't think of you like that." Myka attempted. "Although we do have a few things to talk about."

"Indeed we do." Her partner agreed. "For starters—"

"Nope, I start." Myka interrupted. "Roll up your sleeves."

Helena looked up at Myka, her expression settling between shame and mortification. "Myka…" There was a slight whimper to her voice.

"I can Tesla you and do it myself if I have to." Myka threatened.

Helena pushed her sleeves up to her elbows. "I'm alright, really. It's just a few scratches."

"Yes," Myka looked over the wounds. "But there is the small fact that you did it to yourself." Her tone was both concerned and disapproving.

Helena nodded. "I was distraught. I don't make a habit of it."

"You better not." Myka warned, sounding serious and gentle. "You should let me clean them up."

"I heal quickly." Helena promised. "I'll probably be good as gold by tomorrow evening." There was a look in Myka's eyes akin to distrust. "Now, about you and Pete," Helena began. "Well, really, this is more of a 'you and me' issue."

Myka replied. "I will try very hard not to attack anymore of my coworkers." She made her eyes big. "Even if they try to kill you."

"Actually, I was going to say that maybe you should start hiding the orb a little better so as to prevent any need for future defensive action." She explained. "I understand why you reacted the way you did. Just as you wish I had reacted to today's events in a way that was less destructive, I wish you had been less violent in your approach. But I make no attempt to imply I would have behaved any differently."

"Is that considered being tough on me?" Myka joked.

Helena smiled wickedly. "No dear, that will come when I am corporeal again."

Myka took a deep breath to calm herself and let it out in a long sigh. What couldn't this woman do to her? "Are you ready" she yawned "for bed, then?"

Helena smiled sweetly and rested her head on the pillow beside Myka's. "I am."

This time Helena fell asleep first and Myka watched over her. There were so many things that happened today; so many new discoveries to explore. For starters, Helena may be able to take physical form. And for once in her life, Myka felt needed. She wasn't sure which of those was a greater phenomenon. Myka quietly considered whether or not it was worth possibly angering the regents by finding ways to make HG whole just to be able to hold her. Gazing upon her love's soft features, lit by the moonlight, Myka had no doubt in her mind, she would do anything for this woman. And HG would do anything for her.


	15. Plans

Claudia had volunteered to put the fezzes back in their place in the warehouse after a few hours to let the effects of Pavlov's bell wear off. It had been a tough day for all involved. Myka had finally learned the truth about Sam's death. It didn't change what happened, but it made her feel a little less guilty that her partner's death was not her fault.

"Hey, Claudia!" Myka yelled following Claudia down the stairs. "Wait up!" She ran down to the floor to catch the younger woman.

Claudia stopped and turned. "What's up?"

"I-I wanted to ask you something." Myka hadn't thought about how to go about this. "Here, I'll help you." She said, taking the tiny hat from Claudia.

"Uh, thanks." Claudia looked suspiciously at the brunette. They started walking to the shelf where the hats belong. "What did you want to ask?"

"Well," Myka tried to come up with a good way to word her request. "Do you know anything about force fields?"

"Sure." Claudia scoffed. "What are you trying to contain. The most reliable force field is a brick wall. There's a piece of the Berlin wall—Why?"

Myka shook her head. "I was thinking more along the lines of something…" Myka chewed her lip. "Electromagnetic?"

Claudia furrowed her brow. "Sure…do you mind if you use an artifact to make it?" She was increasingly more wary of the older agent's behavior.

Myka thought hard about it. "I'd rather not. But I guess if it wasn't a dangerous one."

Claudia spun on her heel and pulled her mini Tesla at Myka. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Myka?"

"Claudia, don't shoot. It's me." Myka held her hands up. "I just wanted to know about an artifact." Myka swallowed. "I promise, Claude, it's me."

"Prove it." Claudia backed up, gun still trained on Myka.

"What do you want me to say?" Myka asked, "Last week we got sucked into your friend's video game." She tried.

"And what characters were we?" Her eyebrow was still arched.

Myka sighed. "You were an elf, Pete was a gladiator, and I" She rolled her eyes. "I was a dominatrix."

"And what was your reason for choosing that?"

"I-I never told you, so that's not really relevant." She cocked her head and started to lower her hands.

Claudia smirked. "I know, I just want to know." She lowered the gun. "Come on, let's put these away and go see if we can find you something."

"Thanks, please don't do that again." Myka breathed. "Do you have any ideas on what we can use?"

"Sure." Claudia chirped. "I've been doing inventory for almost as long as you've been an agent here."

They put the hats away and the red-head lead the way to aisle M126. She searched the shelf, quickly scanning for what she was looking for. "Aha!" Claudia exclaimed. "Here it is." She pulled a wooden block with a propeller on it off the shelf, and flicked the rotor sending it into motion. Instantly a semi-visible wall of electricity surrounded them. The circle was about 15 feet in diameter. "This is Jedlik's electromagnetic self-rotor."

"How far does it reach?" Myka asked going up and touching the shimmering wall.

"Five meters. It doesn't shock from this side, but…" Claudia set the motor down and stepped through the barrier. She reached to touch the wall again. It sparked furiously and made her hair stand on end. "What do you need it for?"

Myka picked it up and stopped the spinning of the rotor, the wall disappeared. "This should work." She said to herself. "Hey, thanks Claude, I'm going to take this with me and run some tests on it." Myka started to run off.

"Stop." Claudia yelled. "What are you doing with it? And don't say running tests."

"I-I have to use it for something personal." Myka pleaded with her eyes for the younger woman to drop it.

Claudia stared hard at Myka and lowered her voice. "Does this have something to do with HG?"

Myka kept her voice low too. "I don't want to involve you in this, Claudia. The less you know, is probably for the better."

"It does!" The young woman's eyes lit up. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Claudia, please."

"Right, right. I won't say anything." She smiled. "Just make sure you don't leave the circle, otherwise you won't be able to turn it off."

Myka nodded and headed back to the office.

When Myka got back to the B&B, she rushed upstairs with the artifact. Carefully, she placed it on the bed and flicked the wheel. It began spinning quickly and the wall came up. She couldn't help the grin on her face. She stopped the turning and scurried to the shower. She took extra care to scrub everywhere, just in case what she hoped to happened actually happened.

After she had dried her hair and gotten dressed in her scantest pajamas, she locked the door of her bedroom. After triple-checking that the door was, indeed, locked she turned on her iPod and placed the speakers up against the threshold, so the music played out of the room and deafened any sounds coming from within. Myka did a quick check of the room; if she set the motor closer to the outside wall of the building she should be able to keep the field inside the room. Everything seemed in order, but there was something missing. Myka looked up the dresser and saw her candles.  _Perfect._ She thought. She lit the candles carefully and blew out the match, lowering the lights in the room.

Myka picked up the motor and flipped the rotor so the wall rose again. She walked carefully around the room with in until it was perfectly positioned. The bed, shower, and window were all encased in the field. Myka nodded satisfied by her work and set the artifact carefully on the floor beside the bed and picked up Helena's projection orb. She turned it and silently wished for everything to go as planned.


	16. Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Smut Chapter 16

Myka nodded satisfied by her work and set the artifact carefully on the floor beside the bed and picked up Helena's projection orb. She turned it and silently wished for everything to go as planned.

HG's image appeared just outside the field. "Hello, darling." Helena smiled when she first saw Myka. Then she surveyed he electric wall in front of her. "What's this then?" She poked at it with her finger. "Ow."

Myka smiled. "Remember how we discussed the use of a force field to attain the same results as the Tesla?"

Helena nodded. "This is what you came up with, huh?"

"Et voila." Myka held up the motor for Helena to see, stopping and restarting it quickly to demonstrate the production of the wall. "Well?" She raised her eyebrows hopefully and signaled for HG to come inside.

The dark-haired woman pressed her hand experimentally against the shimmering wall. "Seems okay…" She stepped through and felt herself become whole with a slight electric nip. "And it works."

Myka threw herself into Helena's arms, almost knocking them both outside the barrier. "Hi!" She teased, kissing HG on the cheek.

"Myka, dear, you do realize how much trouble you'll be in if we are caught with me like this," Helena pulled Myka off and held her at arm's length. "Don't you?"

The younger woman nodded solemnly. "I do, and I don't care." With a smirk she pulled Helena back to her a brushed her lips across the other woman's tentatively. "You're still here." Myka smiled, relived.

"I'll always be here, darling." Helena smiled brushing back a piece of hair from Myka's face. It was still damp from the shower but was starting to dry into ringlets. "No power in the universe can stop me."

Myka smiled and kissed her love again. "I think it's going to hold." She said, referring to the force field.

"Well, what shall we do, then?" Helena asked, sitting on the end of the bed. "You expressed an interest in learning more Kenpo, I'm sure w—"

Helena was cut short by Myka gracefully climbing into her lap and wrapping her arms around her neck. "I have a better idea."

The dark haired woman raised an eyebrow. "Really? Well, that explains the candles."

Myka leaned in and pulled HG's lower lip between her own, "Mm-hm."

Helena leaned into Myka's kiss, running her hands over the other woman's shoulders and resting them at her waist. She pulled away a hair and let out a breath against Myka's cheek. "Myka?" She asked softly, not making eye contact.

"Yes?" She whispered back into HG's ear.

"Why now?" It was less a question of timing and more a concern for intent. "I'm not complaining, I just—"

"I found out something about Sam." Myka sighed, sliding off of Helena's lap and crawling to the head of the bed. The moment was lost for now. "I found out it wasn't my fault." She leaned back into the headboard and hugged a pillow to her chest.

Helena turned to face Myka, tucking a leg under herself. "That, that's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Myka agreed half-heartedly. "It was an artifact. I wasn't late. He wasn't early. It was an artifact." She worried her lower lip. "All those years ago, artifacts were already screwing with my life." She let out a dry, barking laugh.

"You think you should feel more relieved about this." It wasn't a question, or a statement, really. It just was.

Myka fiddled with her pillow. "I just, I find it ironic, okay?" She justified.

"It's the Warehouse, Myka. It's your truth." She crawled up the bed to sit shoulder to shoulder with Myka. "I think all agents connect back to the Warehouse in some twisted, incestuous way from their past."

Myka nodded, hearing, but not taking it in as much as she should. "I guess. I mean Claudia's whole life has been affected by artifacts. From her brother when she was a child, now she's an agent, and eventually she'll be the caretaker."

Helena's interest piqued slightly. "Caretaker?"

"Yeah," Myka answered off-hand. "Mrs. Fredric almost died when Warehouse 2 came back online. Claudia almost had to take over." She looked up. "Oh, uhm, sorry."

Helena scoffed a little. "What do you have to be sorry for?" She shook her head a little. "I really never meant for those boys to be hurt, or the regent, or Mrs. Fredric…" She ran her fingers through her hair. "I wasn't in my right mind."

"I know. I just didn't mean to bring it up." Myka placed her hand on HG's knee comfortingly. "You are rehabilitating nicely." It was a joke, mostly.

"Thanks." Helena answered dryly, trying to forget about her actions in the past. She placed her hand over Myka's. "So, you found out about the artifact and, and Sam," Helena's nose wrinkled slightly at having to bring up Myka's ex-lover. Not that she was the jealous type, but some things sting regardless. "Why did  _that_  lead to  _this?_ " Helena indicated the candles and the plasma-like walls.

"I just," The brunette shrugged. "I need to love someone." It was a quiet and slightly ashamed admission, but it was true.

"Myka," Helena admonished slightly, saddened by her friend's admission. "I love you."

Myka raised her eye's to Helena's questioningly.

"We don't need to be  _physical_ " she forced the last word a little. "To love each other. I hope you know that." She pushed a strand of Myka's hair behind her ear. "I hope you know that I love you. I have since the day we met."

Myka smiled at Helena's honest declaration. "Madly?"

"Madly."

She leaned over to kiss Helena's rosey lips. It was meant to be a thankful kiss, but it deepened and took on a life of its own. The two women slowly reclined onto the bed, Myka on top. The younger agent was soon tangling her fingers into her partner's dark, shiny hair. Helena slowly ran her fingertips up Myka's exposed arms sending shivers down her spine. Myka moved her mouth off Helena's kissing a line across her jaw and up to her ear. She sucked gently on her earlobe before moving to flick her tongue over the soft spot between her ear and jawbone. Helena moaned lowly at the contact, unable to restrain herself any longer, she flipped the two of them over and pinned Myka beneath her. "Hi." She breathed, placing soft kisses down the column of Myka's neck, nipping slightly at her visible collarbone. Helena slipped a hand under Myka's shirt and trailed her fingers up the creamy skin of her side. She sat back and pulled lightly at the hem of the taller woman's shirt. She asked permission with her eyes and Myka nodded almost shyly, a vast change from the confident woman who had been in her lap moments ago.

Helena removed the shirt and licked her lips unconsciously while eyeing the newly revealed flesh. "You're stunning."

"It's nothing you haven't seen before." Myka tried to laugh, a little uneasy under Helena's heated gaze.

"True," HG purred placing kisses from the waistband of Myka's shorts in line up to her chest. With no hesitation, she kissed the younger woman's breast, sucking lightly at her pebbling nipples. "But seeing" she brushed the pad of her thumb over the peak, "and feeling are very different things."

Myka's pulse quickened each time Helena made contact with her skin. "Mmm-hm." She agreed as her eyes fluttered closed.

Helena helped Myka lift her hips and slid her pajama shorts down her legs and off. Myka was now clad only in her white bikini cut panties, as HG's hands wandered back up to Myka's waist to remove the last article Myka squeaked. "You have way too many clothes on."

Helena smiled at Myka's breathy statement and started to unbutton her shirt. Myka propped herself up on her elbows and watched as Helena revealed herself slowly. She was taking her time, too much time. "Hurry up or I'm ripping it off." Myka tried to playfully threaten, it came off as predatory though.

"Well, aren't we a little impatient?" Helena teased, quickening her fingers all the same. She pulled her shirt off her shoulders and tossed it to the ground. "Better?"

"Not even close." Myka smirked, reaching for the button on Helena's trousers. The shorter woman stood and attempted to remove the offending article, but it got tangled on her boots. She'd nearly forgotten about them. With as much speed as possible she tugged off her boots and let her pants fall from her legs. As soon as she was free of her over-clothes she crawled back onto the bed and over Myka.

Both women were dressed only in their undergarments now and a thin layer of self-control. Fingers returned and explored unfamiliar skin for the first time. But it felt nothing like a first time should. There was no hesitancy, no fumbling to find what was the right way to touch, and, perhaps the most strange, no hurry to get to the main event.

Myka briefly wondered if all female lovers were like this, if every woman made love like Helena. Myka was feeling things she had never felt in this situation before. She had always felt wanted by Sam, always felt his desire for her. But somehow Helena was different. Myka felt safe in her arms, she felt loved. She trusted Helena with everything she had, everything she was. She thought she'd felt that for Sam- Skilled nails scrapped softly down her toned stomach and any thoughts of lovers, past or future, faded away, and replaced with longing and engulfment of emotions.

"Come back to me," came Helena's muted whisper. She placed a kissed softly on Myka's navel. Helena's left hand reached for her lover's, intertwining their fingers, her right slid gently between the other woman's knees, teasing her legs apart inch by inch. Every touch, every flicker of contact was being met with an arching of flesh, a pressure to meet and be met. Arousal and heat were gathering low in Myka's belly and pooling between her legs. Helena's touches were gentle, not teasing or unsure, but asking Myka for permission to take her. Right now, Myka would give her permission to take her soul. When Helena traced her fingers up to remove the agent's panties, Myka's hips lifted off the bed practically of their own accord.

HG's slid her palm up Myka's ankle at an achingly slow pace, over her calve, past her knee, and, finally, up the inside of her thighs once more. Myka yielded to the touch, her skin hot and overly sensitive. As Helena began a more direct path to Myka's center she felt her partner suddenly tense beneath her, for only a moment, but it was there. Helena lightened her efforts; kissing her way back up Myka's abdomen, over her perfect breasts and perfect collarbone and returned to her soft, perfect, lips.

"It's alright, darling, you're perfect" Helena murmured against her skin. "We'll go as slowly as you like," Her voice gentle and encouraging. Helena's fingers found purchase in Myka's curling locks as she pulled the other woman to her, urging the kiss to deepen. Helena gradually slipped her leg between Myka's and put a slight pressure behind her thigh as it pressed against Myka's wet heat. Both women gasped at the contact; Helena hadn't really expected Myka to be so ready, and Myka just didn't know what to expect. No matter how much their bodies were touching, they needed more. They didn't want one another's bodies, they wanted one another's souls. If it killed them, if their love devoured them like trees in a forest fire, they would never be close enough.

Myka allowed her hips to rock against Helena's leg, feeling a flush rise in her chest as she worked fervently to get more. "More," she heard herself whimper.  _More? More what?_ She didn't know. But Helena did. She scraped one set of nails down Myka's side and brought her face to the crook of her love's neck. Myka felt deft fingers work down her stomach and reach between her legs. She tried to breathe; hoping to calm her racing heart. Helena's lips moved against the other woman's pulse point. God, she was excited…or having a heart attack. Helena hoped for the former. She let her fingers rub against Myka's core. She applied a steady pressure; toying with her lover's clit first while she found a rhythm that worked for them.

'Rhythm' was not the best word for how Myka's hips were jerking wildly into every touch from Helena. She wasn't sure if it was because HG was  _that_  good or if she was just  _that_  deprived. It didn't matter. She was being touched so well and in such the right way that she felt like she was going to explode. She had long since given up on holding onto Helena's back and was now grasping desperately at the sheets under her.

"Oh, god," She gritted her teeth. She could not scream, she kept reminding herself. She moaned though, as Helena slipped two curling fingers inside her and hit  _that_  spot.

Helena placed her lips close to Myka's ear and whispered, "Let go, love, Myka, let go." And she nipped lightly at Myka's neck, pressing a thumb against her overly sensitive nerve bundle.

The noise that came from Myka as she tumbled over the edge was not human. It was a keening whimper at best. And, if she was honest, it was not all that quiet either. Since she was being honest, she didn't care. She didn't care if she'd woken the whole B&B. She didn't care that she would have an incriminating mark on her neck in the morning. She only cared about Helena; a goddess of a woman. The final waves of her orgasm wracked her body as she caught her breath and tried to come down to earth. She went to grasp for Helena, but she was no longer above her. Myka blinked dumbly and looked down. Helena was already nestled between her still quivering thighs. She nuzzled tenderly at Myka's soft curls. With barely a look up she began working her lips over Myka's velvety folds. Her hot tongue slipped out to taste her lover.

"Helena," Myka groaned. This woman was going to be the death of her. "Please."  _Please what?_  She thought. Myka had never been one to beg, especially in bed. But if she could have managed more than one syllable she would have. She was still sensitive and weak from her first climax.

Helena pulled back a smidgen breathing hot air on Myka's heated flesh. "Anything you want, darling." She whispered before returning to the pleasant task at hand, Myka's gasps and whimpers egging her on. Myka's hand pulled at Helena's raven locks, tugging gently, but not trying to stop her by any means. Her fingers tangled in the hair, her nails scratched at her scalp, her heart was pounding hard in her ears. If this is how she dies, she's alright with it.

Helena's tongue was as talented as her fingers, if anything she was more persistent with her mouth. She let her teeth graze Myka's clit, causing her hips to surge upwards. She gently held Myka's hip with her hand as her lips continued her efforts. Myka was thrashing above her, absolutely wrought with pleasure. Helena looked up just enough to see her lover at what was quite possibly her most beautiful. Her lips parted as she panted and gasped, tongue trying frantically to wet them. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her head was thrown back deeply into the pillow. The normal collected agent was entirely undone. Even her hair had given up all pretenses of order. Helena watched in amazement as Myka's chest heaved with every urgent breath and a fine sheen of sweat covered the creamy skin. Helena swallowed the lump in her throat as she flicked the tip of her tongue against Myka's bud; fast, unyielding, and without restraint. Myka was so wound up now, nothing could hold her as a tsunami of pleasure washed over her, pulling her in under the waves. She gasped for air, her lungs suddenly unable to operate. Helena placed a quieting kiss on Myka's lower abdomen and slipped up next to her girlfriend, watching as the woman slowly regained control of herself. Her eye's fluttered open and she looked at Helena. Her emerald eyes full of passion and trust and such pure emotion it almost hurt. She reached out a hand to her lover and Helena fell in to her grasp easily. She was Myka's life preserver until she could find the power to swim on her own. Myka took HG's chin in her hand and tilted the woman's face to hers. "Hi." She panted.

"You okay?" Helena asked, knowing full well what the answer should be. Myka just blinked helplessly. Helena smiled and tried to subtly wipe her face on the sheets before sinking back into Myka's kiss. The taller woman could taste herself on her lover's tongue. She thought it would be gross but it just did more to urge her onward. Myka slid her hand behind Helena's back and undid the clasp on her bra, surprising herself on how easily she did so. Men always complained about how difficult that was. Helena let the straps slide down her arms and pushed it off so she could use her hands to scratch up and down Myka's back. Myka's eyes were still cloudy with lust.

"I'm…" She kissed Helena's neck. "…Amazing…" Her lips traveled down the other woman's chest as she rolled herself on top. "…Thanks."

"Oh," Helena moaned lightly. "Glad I could help." She swallowed hard trying to regain some control over herself. "Nice to know a hundred and fifteen years in bronze didn't affect my skill."

Myka wrapped her hot mouth over Helena's breast. Her hands roamed at will across the pale skin of Helena's body. She kissed as much of the Victorian's skin as she could. She let her lips wander down past her navel and all the way over toned legs. She placed small kisses on Helena's inner thigh and cautiously peeled off the last of the clothes on her. She had never been with a woman before tonight. She didn't want to disappoint or frustrate her lover. Helena reached for the younger woman's shoulders and pulled her up till they were face to face. "Just kiss me. That's all I need tonight." Helena assured her. But Myka had felt Helena's arousal on her panties as she removed them, she could smell how much Helena needed her. And more than that—

"I need more." Myka pleaded. "I need you to need me." It was a very codependent statement, and it surprised her almost as much as her begging had, what had Helena reduced her to?

Helena sucked Myka's bottom lip into her mouth, a deep kiss, full of longing. When they broke for air she held Myka's gaze. "I will always need you. Your soul, your eyes," Helena pushed Myka's hair out of her face and traced her mouth with a finger. "Your lips." Helena allowed herself a suggestive grin. "And now that I've tasted you I don't think I'll be able to live without that either."

Myka nuzzled her cheek into HG's palm. "Promise?" It came out small and almost childishly, but she didn't care.

The smaller woman nodded and pulled her mate in for another kiss. "I promise." She was kissed back fiercely. Myka's hand trailed shakily down HG's body, she reached the heat between the perfect legs and paused again, to collect herself. "Just…" Helena breathed, starting to get caught up by the tingling sensations Myka's touch sent through her body. "Just touch me like you would touch yourself." It was a simple suggestion, but it was hardly helpful. Myka hadn't masturbated by hand in years, not since she bought a good vibrator. She considered getting it out and using it on Helena, but decided to keep that for another night. Her fingers teased over the soft curls around Helena's center. Her hand was shaking a little, she had no practice for this. Finally she slipped a digit past Helena's outermost folds. Both women's breaths caught for a moment. Helena was absolutely dripping with arousal. Myka slid two fingers over HG's length, dipping just her fingertips into her core. Myka's moan was louder than Helena's. She was tight and hot and wet, Myka had never felt something so heavenly. She tried very hard not to think. Just act, analyze later. By the way Helena's hips bucked against Myka's hand she was probably doing something right.

After a mental pat on the back Myka tried to replicate what Helena had done with her fingers inside her and her thumb on her clit. It didn't feel right to Myka, but in her fumbling she stroked more deeply inside Helena and passed over her clit just so. The woman practically levitated from the bed. Myka took a moment to take in the utter visual flawlessness that was Helena G Wells. He skin was perfectly white, unmarred by time or injury, her jaw was set tight, but her mouth and hips betrayed her restraint with tiny gasps and subtle jerks. Her hair was splayed out like a halo around her head. Her fingers were clutched to her sides and her dark eyes were locked on Myka. Myka returned herself to the act of satisfying her love. She wanted so badly to please her, but more than that Myka needed take Helena for her own. She dropped a kiss to Helena's heart and found herself slipping down between Helena's legs. She wasn't sure if she meant to or not, but this was what her body wanted. No thinking, she reminded herself. And with that she put one of Helena's legs over her shoulder and used her fingers to open her center.

Myka was never one not to take initiative. And now was a perfect example of that. She started by trying to imitate Helena's previous actions, but lost herself in the other woman's essence. She smelled amazing, a scent that would be forever cemented in Myka's brain as "Helena". With a few tentative licks, Myka discovered that Helena tasted as good as she would have imagined, better even. Sickeningly sweet, if she had to classify it. But it was quickly becoming Myka's favorite flavor. Myka had gotten lost in her head slightly, she never stopped touching Helena with her tongue, but she had kind of forgotten herself. She was jerked back into reality by a sharp tug on her hair. Helena had wound one hand into Myka's mane and she looked up to see if this was criticism or praise. Helena had her other fist at her mouth, possibly biting it, from what Myka could tell. She was no longer looking at Myka, her eyes were turned skyward. But her hips were twisting into the mattress with hungry need. Myka thrust a finger inside HG and lapped earnestly at her clit, which was a bit of a challenge given how much the woman was wiggling. All at once Helena went stiff. Her hand pulled tightly Myka's hair, her hips stilled, her legs went taught, and her breath stopped. The only thing moving that Myka could tell was her muscles, spasming around Myka's fingers. Myka stopped to see what was wrong, but Helena's back arched, her hips lifting off the bed and she left out a squeak, barely audible around her hand.

Helena fell back to the bed and closed her eyes, taking a deep, and much needed breath. Myka slid up Helena's body and stared at her closed eyes. "Give me a moment, darling." She said as she recovered. "Sorry."

Myka furrowed her brow. "What for?"

"I got a little..." She finally opened her eyes to gaze upon Myka. "…caught up." She sighed happily. "If I loved you before, I'd die for you now." She managed to summarize.

"Isn't getting caught up good?" Myka asked. "Was I…okay?"

"You couldn't tell?" Helena asked a little disbelieving. "Come here, darling." She patted her chest a little to signal for Myka to lay with her. "You are brilliant. I will never let you go."

Myka smirked. Praise was good. "I was a little worried, you are not easy to read."

"I was trying very, very hard not to scream, dear." Helena stated plainly. "You." She pointed an accusing finger. "You do things to me."

"I could try to not." Myka offered innocently.

"Don't you dare." Helena kissed a curl plastered to Myka's temple.

Myka reached for the Brit's hand, running her thumb over the noticeable teeth marks. "You bit yourself." She was a little shocked.

"Like I said: Trying. Not. To scream." Helena sighed, "I figured you didn't need the whole family running in here."

Myka wrinkled her nose, giggling quietly. "I suppose not." She nuzzled Helena softly. "Next time I'll find someplace where I can make you scream." She promised.

Helena agreed and hugged Myka tighter to her. "I want to stay like this."

Myka sunk in to the bed with her lover and let out a breath. "I'd stay like this forever."

"Promise?"


	17. Sharing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HG and Myka's post coital scene.

They lay in comfortable silence, tangled in each other's limbs. Myka rested her head on HG's chest, drawing patterns on her bare stomach, while Helena tangled her hands in Myka's curly hair, pulling her fingers through the strands as smoothly as possible. The candles were burning out, but the light from the bathroom still left the room in half-light. They had long ago caught their breaths and now were just thinking of things not to say. Myka was still in awe of what had happened, and that Helena told her she loved her. It wasn't that they hadn't said it before, just not in that context. It had always been hidden within literary quotes, poetry, and song lyrics. And she hadn't heard that since the morning Sam died. Helena was just overwhelmed by what she was feeling. Physically, yes, but there was so much in her head that she hadn't felt in so long; trust and a peace she'd not felt since Christina had died. She let a tear fall as she thought of her daughter. Indeed, neither woman was truly in that bed or in that time even.

Myka felt Helena's breath catch, causing her to look up. The older woman's eye shone slightly with unshed tears. Myka said nothing, just reached up and stroked HG's cheek gently. She rolled up on her elbow so she could see into her partner's eyes properly. "You okay?" She asked, dropping a kiss on Helena's shoulder. "You're…" She stopped and stroked the other woman's face.

"I—I'm" Helena cleared her throat and shook her head. "I was just thinking."

"Mm," Myka agreed, stretching out a bit on the bed beside her lover. "Me too."

"Oh?" Helena recovered. "What thoughts frequent your troubled mind tonight?" She teased.

"Just stuff…You, Sam, my parents…You." Myka shook off. "What about you?"

Helena smiled weakly. "Such a strong woman with such a broken past." She whispered to herself while rubbing a hand over Myka's back, almost unaware that she spoke her thoughts aloud.

"You're one to talk." Myka tried to joke. But it was true; both woman had been shattered and put back together over and over throughout their lives. Now they were damaged, but whole in each other's arms.

Helena patted the woman on the back once more before pulling her arms into herself. Her shield back up. She swallowed hard and looked back on Myka. "What have I told you of my first life?"

"Very little," Myka cuddled into the older woman's side. "Just what you said about the trumpet…and a little about your apprenticeship. I think you've spoken, non-too fondly, about Charles."

"Ah, yes, my  _charming and brilliant_ brother." HG half-laughed. "I've never spoken of her, have I?"

"Her? Oh! No, no you haven't." Myka returned to her drawing on Helena's abdomen, wont for something to do with her hands. "I know the basic details from your file…" Her voice was softer than it had been all night. "Claudia filled in some holes."

"Christina was everything to me." Helena frowned a little. "I was far too young when I had her, mentally, I mean. I wasn't ready for a child. I was certain I'd be giving her away when she was born. Women didn't have many options back then. But when I gave birth to her…" Myka could see the deep love in her eyes. "The midwife handed me this tiny, 2 kilo bundle. She was weeks early and they told me she wouldn't live." She felt her eyes well again, remembering holding Christina for the first time. "But she did and I never let her out of my sight for months. I didn't even let my mother watch her for me." Helena nodded resolutely. "And she was impossibly beautiful, even as infant she had lovely brown eyes and curly black hair.

"She was an extremely bright child." Helena said this simply, it was a fact. "She was sweet and kind, full of life…Every child is, I suppose…" She trailed off wistfully.

Myka tilted her head back to gaze upon HG's face. "Are you okay?"

Helena nodded, her hair falling in her face a little. "Christina was the most brilliant child I'd ever seen. She asked me once…" She smiled fondly. "She asked me why soap bubbles are round."

"What?" Myka smiled, pushing a strand of inky black hair back behind Helena's ear.

"She had this toy, it was a wand, it was a sort of a hollow spoon that you dip into soap and blow on and it would make soap bubbles." Helena explained.

Myka smirked teasingly. "Yes, I'm familiar. It's probably the most popular children's toy on the planet."

"Ah, well, the wands are usually round. But I had made several in shapes; squares, stars, triangles. I made one that was a huge hoop; made bubbles the size of her head." Helena had started using her hands to emphasize her words. "She asked why all the wands produced round bubbles. I had never heard such a curious question from a child. Most children's interest in science only gets as far as 'why is the sky blue?' or 'why is grass green?' but she asked why bubbles are round."

"Why  _are_  bubbles round?" Myka asked, realizing she'd never given it any thought.

"Bubbles are pockets of soap filled with air, yes?" She asked rhetorically. "Air surrounded by a thin film of soap pulling inward. Meanwhile, the air inside of the bubble is pushing out. A bubble always tries to take up the smallest amount of space  _and_  hold the most air that it possibly can. A sphere is the best way to take up a little space and hold a lot of air; it has very efficient surface area."

"And you explained this to an eight year old?" Myka asked in disbelief.

"She was four when she asked that." The proud mother corrected. "I used fabric around a clay ball, a pyramid, cube…And I showed her how much fabric it took to cover the same amount of clay." She nodded, remembering the afternoon's experiment's fondly. "She then wanted to know the surface area of everything. I was able to teach her about volume, and ratios, and she understood it all. Or at least she asked when she didn't understand."

"She sounds as smart as her mother." Myka agreed.

"The best student I ever had."

"Did you ever want more kids?" Myka asked, not really thinking. Then realized how she sounded. "Not to replace her, I just mean, like sibling or something."

"no," Helena shook her head. "For starters, I was very busy. And, of course, I didn't have a husband or the sort. And after," HG shrugged a bit. "I almost died after she was taken from me." Myka squeezed her tightly. "I don't mean the grief, though that was horrible, I tried to take my own life. But I, I am not as brave as I seem."

"Suicide is not an act of bravery." Myka protested in a mutter.

There was a story there, but HG chose not to pursue it. "I know. I just couldn't live without her. In the end I thought going into the bronzer would be an escape, but I was just trapped in there with her memory…" HG shivered slightly before pulling the comforter up over both of them, covering them to their chests. "I was thrity-two when…I really do miss her all the time. I still feel guilty about what I let happen—"

"You didn't  _let_ anything happen, Helena." Myka sat up. "You did everything in your power, more than most people could even dream of being capable of, some things just…"

"At least with your partner it really was out of your control." Helena rationalized. "I was  _there._  I still couldn't—" She felt a tear slide down her cheek.

Myka shook her head and sighed. "We could go at this all night: You feeling sorry for yourself, me telling you you're wrong. Me feeling sorry for myself, you telling me that I'm wrong." The younger woman placed a chaste kiss on her love's chin. "No good comes from this…Please?"

Helena smiled sadly and caressed the back of Myka's head once more. "I'm sorry, darling." She brushed her lips against the brunette's temple. "Let us focus on other things."

"No pity-party?"

"No. No pity-party." She grinned and nestled into the covers a bit more and changed gears. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Me? Fine." Myka responded on instinct, then "What about, exactly?"

"What we did." Helena clarified, "the, uhm, intercourse."

"Oh." Myka grinned to herself, honestly appreciating Helena's bluntness in this situation. "That."

"Yes," Helena smirked back with equal impishness. "That."

"I'm…" Myka cuddled into Helena's side and draped her arm over her waist. "Very good."

Helena smirked again, smugly this time. "Glad to have pleased you."

"I didn't mean it like that." Myka rebuked. "I mean, I'm satisfied…with the events that…transpired?" She suddenly doubted her ability to speak.

"'Transpired'? Really? Well, when you put it like that…" HG teased.

"You know what I mean." The agent insisted. "You were the first since Sam, and my only female lover."

Helena nodded. "I know, I was a little worried how you would handle your feelings afterward. I have left many a female lover remorseful and self-conscious." It was Myka's turn to feel jealous. "I really hoped that wouldn't happen with you. I'm not done with you yet, Myka Bering."

"I hope not." Myka purred. "I am okay, though. I knew I would be. I love you."

HG knew this to be more than a post-coital utterance. And she loved Myka too. She sighed as she looked to the clock. "Darling, you know I would never wish to leave you, in fact I would very much like to stay here all night and allow more to transpire," it was said playfully but she meant it. "And I really don't mean to be like this. But you will need to be up in a few hours and should probably get some rest."

Myka looked to the clock as well. "Shit." She sat up. "Is it really two-thirty already?"

"Mh," Helena affirmed. "It is. We quite lost track of time I'm afraid."

"It was worth it." Myka assured her; she placed a soft kiss on HG's forehead and reluctantly got out of bed. Wrapping the sheet around her body and picking up the motor as she gave her love a smile and stops its motion. "I guess…"

"I'll be going then." Helena finishes the thought, not wanting Myka to be the one forced to end their night of passion and sharing and general closeness. "Shall we?" She points to the orb, resting inconspicuously on the nightstand.

The agent nods sadly. "I'll check in with you in the morning before work." She assures. "So don't think I've left you or I'm upset or…anything."

Helena nods sweetly, "I know darling. But I think we could both do with some time to process, I think."

"Yeah." Myka nodded, it had been a very eventful night. "I love you madly." Myka smiled.

"I love you madly." Helena echoed.

Myka turned the sphere like she always did, but instead of glowing and drawing HG's image away, it fizzled and sparked. Myka dropped the ball as it zapped her hands.


	18. Stuck

Myka turned the sphere like she always did, but instead of glowing and drawing HG's image away, it fizzled and sparked. Myka dropped the ball as it zapped her hands.

"Shit." She muttered looking down at the orb as if it had betrayed her.

"Oh, god, Myka!" Helena jumped up and was across the room in seconds. "Are you okay?" She took Myka's hands in her own checking for burns. "What happened?"

"I don't know, it bit me!" Myka cleared her throat and patted her hands up Helena's wrists. "Uhm, HG?"

"What?" Helena asked, still brushing Myka off. "…Oh." She clapped her hands over her mouth. She felt herself up her arms. "I'm still solid." She rolled her eyes. "I was afraid this might happen."

Myka's eyes widened. "You were?!" She yelped, turning on the overhead light. She picked up the ball and tried again, it zapped again, but she kept ahold of it when it sparked. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Well, to be honest, darling," Helena smirked darkly. "My mouth was a bit busy."

Myka literally rolled her eyes. "Really? You're going to be like that?"

"Like what, darling?"

"You're being immature." Myka sighed. "Just…do you know why..?" She gestured to the ball and back at HG.

Helena shook her head. "When it happened in Ohio, I stayed solid for the same amount of time as I was within the field." She offered.

"But," Myka looked at the clock. "It's been almost four hours."

"Indeed it has." Helena nodded. She was trying to sound concerned or at least guilty but couldn't manage it. Not until Myka started to panic, at least.

"What do we do? No one knows about you being here, not physically." Her voice got increasingly screechy as she lost her cool. "What if someone sees you or if you're stuck or…"

"Myka, dear," Helena got up from the bed, not bothering to cover herself, and stood in front of the agent, taking her hands. "You're going to hyperventilate."

"How are you calm?!" She half yelled.

Helena shrugged. "The idea of being stuck like this for a few more hours it not entirely unappealing."

Myka looked into her love's eyes, finally seeing the other side of this. "Okay. Just," she sighed slightly. "Do you mind if we dressed and ask Claudia what she thinks?"

Helena frowned inwardly but wished to put Myka's mind at ease. "Okay, let's go." She picked up their clothes from around the room and sorted them out, handing some articles to Myka and putting on the ones belonging to her. "Do you want me to stay in here?" She asked, hoping the answer was 'no'; she quite wanted to test out this form a bit more.

"Huh?" Myka looked up from pulling on her pajama shorts. "Well, I guess you don't have to, no one else is up."

"Could we maybe get some toast? Since we're up and all." She suggested hopefully.

Myka gave her a blank stare. "You want toast?"

Helena nodded eagerly.

"You are solid for the first time in months, we are surely committing some crime by you being here, and we—" She stuttered in disbelief and waved at the general disarray of the room. "We just had sex. And you want toast?"

"I haven't eaten in months," she admitted shyly. "I forgot what hungry feels like and you made me work up an appetite."

Myka thought for a moment, what harm could there be in it? "Fine, just use the toaster and don't burn down the kitchen…And please be quiet."

"As a mouse." HG promised. She then tip-toed to the stairs while still managing to step on every creaky floorboard in the hall.

Myka shook her head. She really did love that woman. She had to, to have just done what she did. Not the sex, although that was quite step. No, the emotional intimacy they had shared, and the fact that Myka had used an artifact for personal gain. She almost didn't believe it herself.

Myka lifted her hand to knock on Claudia's door but didn't want to make noise so she turned the knob and pushed the door open slightly. To her surprise, Claudia was awake; lying on her stomach on the bed with her computer on her pillow and headphones blasting. Myka walked in trying not to startle the young techie. She was right on top of her. The redhead's eyes were closed as she typed strings of code. Myka grinned and finally tapped her on the shoulder.

'Startled' is a gentle word for Claudia's reaction. She jumped and turned on Myka, throwing her to the ground and pinning her before realizing who it was. Myka went down, unprepared for that reaction. "What the hell?!" Claudia asked, pulling off her headphones. "Why are you in here?"

"Why did you attack me?" Myka countered. "Where did you even learn that?"

"Places…" Claudia answered guiltily. "So, why did you say you were in here?"

"I didn't." Myka stood and brushed herself off. "Why are you even up right now? When do you sleep? And why were you blasting music anyway? You're going to make yourself deaf."

"Joshua is eight hours ahead." Claudia explained. "I was gonna catch him on his lunch." She shrugged. "And I sleep at the Warehouse, I have a secret napping cave that Artie hasn't found yet." She then took on a slightly bratty tone. "And that deaf thing is a myth. Nice try, mom."

Myka nodded, still trying to regain her calm after being accosted. "I need your help."

"We both do, actually." Helena added from the doorway. She stood leaning against the jamb nibbling at the toast she'd made.

"Whoa." Claudia jumped up and walked to HG, poking her experimentally in the chest and arms. "So, it worked?" She prodded the woman again.

"Yes," Myka started to elaborate. "Now, can you please stop touching my girlfriend?"

"Right." Claudia shook her head, still a little surprised at HG's corporeal form, especially considering. "So what's the problemo?"

"She can't get back in." Myka explained. "I mean, she's solid and the orb won't…"

"Pikachu doesn't want to go back in the ball?" Claudia teased.

Helena cocked her head. "I don't know what that means."

"Doesn't matter." Myka assured.

"Can I see the" Claudia mimed holding the ball. "The sphere thingy?"

"Yeah, it's in my room." Myka lead the way.

"Did you guys..?" Claudia whispered as she passed HG, wiggling her eyebrows. Helena smirked smugly. "Right on!" Claudia started to high-five her then thought better of it and retracted her hand.

They walked into Myka's room and she grabbed the ball off the floor, tossing it gently to Claudia. Claudia caught it and tried to ignore the telling mess that was so uncharacteristic of Myka's personal space.

"So, if I…" She twisted the sphere as if to recapture HG's image. Again it sparked angrily as if it was tired of their insistence. "Okay." Claudia rolled it over in her hands, not really sure what she was looking for. She took a step towards Helena and asked. "Can I?"

The older woman nodded. Claudia poked at her again, this time in more of a scientific a manner. "What happened when you stopped the motor?"

"Nothing." Myka replied. "I mean, it stopped but…"

"Right." Claudia went back to the ball again. "Has this happened before?"

Helena looked at her feet a bit sheepishly. "Yes. In Pittsburg, was the first time, which was when we discovered that the force-field worked on my hologram. I never thought to consider why." Helena pushed her hair back, falling into scientist mode. "It has to do with the electro-magnetism. After the field is deactivated the effects seem to have a half-life equal to the—"

"Equal to the time you are inside the field?" Claudia finished. "That makes sense, I guess. I'm not really familiar with this thing, but it's artifact-y. Artifacts don't really make sense." Claudia turned the ball over again, as if it would have changed. "I think you just wait 'til it wears off. How long did you have the motor running?" She asked Myka but HG replied.

"Three hours and" The inventor looked to the clock, "forty-six minutes." Myka raised her eyebrows. "I notice things."

"What were you doing for that long..?" Claudia started to ask. "Actually, no. Don't tell me." She tried to shake off the idea. "Just wait it off and try again later." She set the ball back on the bed as if that was the end of the conversation. "If it's still a problem we can ask Artie."

"But," Myka started to object but realized the girl was right, there really was nothing to do. "Okay. Go see if you can still catch Joshua." She waved Claudia away.

"Cool, I'll check with you guys in the morning." Claudia nodded to Myka, and then addressed HG. "Don't leave her all tense."

Helena smirked and rolled her eyes at the young girl's complete unsubtly. "Good night, Claudia." She smiled and shut the door behind her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review, etc. I'll get more up as I can.


End file.
